IKEA has warned that American consumers may soon face higher prices as the United States imposes sweeping new tariffs on furniture and lumber imports. The Swedish retailer said it would try to keep costs under control but admitted that the duties will make it harder to maintain its goal of offering affordable home furnishings.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to offer affordable, good-quality home furnishings to everyone,\u201d IKEA told Newsweek<\/em>. \u201cIn our experience across the markets we operate in, tariffs make these ambitions more difficult.\u201d The company said it cannot guarantee that US prices will remain unchanged.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation introducing a 10% base tariff on all lumber imports starting October 14, 2025, alongside a 25% duty on imported cabinets, vanities, and upholstered furniture. Unless trading partners reach new agreements with the United States, tariffs on these products will rise further from January 1, 2026, to 30% on upholstered wood products and 50% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities.<\/p>\n These measures build on Trump\u2019s earlier announcement of a 50% tariff on cabinets and vanities and 30% on upholstered furniture starting October 1, 2025. Other sectors were also targeted, including a 100% tariff on patented drugs and a 25% tariff on heavy-duty trucks.<\/p>\n Trump defended the tariffs as necessary to revive US manufacturing and protect jobs, citing a national security investigation under Section 232 of the 1974 Trade Act. His administration argued that rising imports are undermining US sawmills, disrupting supply chains, and threatening the survival of the domestic lumber industry. The proclamation also stressed that lumber has strategic importance for defense uses, including military facilities, ammunition transport, missile defense systems, and thermal protection for nuclear re-entry vehicles.<\/p>\n The US is IKEA\u2019s second-largest market after Germany, generating USD 5.5 billion in sales last year. However, only around 10% of the products it sells in America are made domestically. Its five largest sourcing countries are Poland, Italy, Lithuania, Germany, and China\u2014where exports are already facing tariffs of 20% and 34% respectively. Analysts warn that bulk, low-value items will be hit hardest, with companies struggling to absorb 20%\u201340% tariffs without passing them on to consumers.<\/p>\n Ethan Weiland of the Consumer Federation of America said the tariffs would \u201cincrease prices and harm consumers,\u201d noting that duties on heavy trucks would also push up transport costs. Melinda St. Louis of Public Citizen\u2019s Global Trade Watch criticized the measures as a political tool that will not improve conditions for workers without broader reforms.<\/p>\n The tariffs are also expected to complicate sustainable sourcing strategies. IKEA, the world\u2019s third-largest wood consumer, relies heavily on FSC-certified wood. Yet the US has only 14.7 million hectares of FSC-certified forest, while another 33 million hectares are certified under the PEFC\u2019s SFI system. Analysts say certified supply may not be sufficient if production shifts toward the United States.<\/p>\n Henrik Elm, IKEA\u2019s global CFO, previously said the company is working to strengthen supply chain resilience to cope with trade barriers but acknowledged that it cannot fully avoid the impact of policy shifts.<\/p>\n The duties are due to take effect this month, with phased increases in 2026. Analysts say the outcome will test whether IKEA and other global retailers can shield American households from higher costs\u2014or whether families will soon face steeper prices for furniture and wood-based products.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[3312,3257,4287],"class_list":["post-97024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news","tag-ikea","tag-tariffs","tag-trump","topic-furniture","topic-wood-products","area-europe","area-global","area-north-america"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n