US furniture and construction industry responds to new tariffs

The new tariffs will "add more headwinds to an already challenging housing market by further pushing up construction and renovation costs," said the president of the National Association of Home Builders.

According to expert Stephen Brown of Capital Economics, with about 30% of the wood in the US having to be imported, a 10% tariff could increase the cost of building a house in the US by about $2,200.

Many domestic suppliers and construction companies in the US fear the new import tariffs will cause short-term difficulties as they face hesitant customers worried about paying more. Experts also warn of instability and disruption in an industry already facing a challenging labor market and rising project costs.

Linq Kitchen, a California-based supplier of kitchen cabinets and countertops, is adjusting to the new tariffs.

Mr. Josh Qian - Co-founder, Linq Kitchen Company said: "In terms of wholesale, especially for multi-apartment projects, because 100% of the goods are imported, they will be greatly affected. Especially when the 50% tax rate comes into effect, the cost will increase. All of these are imported cabinets from Vietnam".

According to 2024 data, the value of furniture imports in the US reached 55.3 billion USD, an increase of 40% compared to 10 years ago.

According to the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance, the new tariffs will “save American cabinet makers from a flood of foreign cabinet imports,” protecting 250,000 jobs in the industry nationwide. However, cabinet suppliers are extremely worried.

"To be honest, right now, the kitchen cabinet manufacturers and suppliers in the industry are just talking to each other about who will raise prices first. And I know some places that are raising prices by 10%, 15%. But no one wants to raise prices by 50%, because once you raise prices by 50%, you lose all your customers and you're basically out of the market," said Josh Qian, Co-founder of Linq Kitchen.

Everyone will gradually raise prices, maybe every three or six months, Josh Qian said. And eventually, the price will be passed on to customers. Small manufacturers like his, who don’t have much capital to invest in domestic production, will be the ones who suffer the most.

Source: https://vtv.vn/nganh-noi-that-va-xay-dung-my-ung-pho-voi-muc-thue-moi-100251015153555568.htm