President Donald Trump’s sprawling tariffs are claiming a new victim: home makeovers.
Trump announced in a Thursday Truth Social post that he was imposing a 50 percent tariff on “all kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and associated products,” as well as a 30 percent tariff on upholstered furniture beginning Oct. 1st.
“The reason for this is the large scale ‘FLOODING’ of these products into the United States by other outside Countries,” he wrote. “It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for National Security and other reasons, our Manufacturing process.”
Furniture prices spiked 4.7 percent last month in comparison to August 2024, CNN reported, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Living room and dining room furniture rose by 9.5 percent, it added.
In a separate post, Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on any branded or patented pharmaceutical product sold by companies that are not currently building manufacturing plants in the U.S.
The new levies mark a fresh blow to big box retailers, who were told by Trump earlier this year to “eat the tariffs” to save their customers from price hikes.
In March, Target CEO Brian Cornell told CNBC that “the consumer will likely see price increases” due to Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Two months later, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned in an earnings call that “the higher tariffs will result in higher prices.”
The statements triggered a Truth Social meltdown from Trump, who said Walmart should stop blaming his policies for the price increases.
“Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected,” he said in May. “Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”
Walmart and Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
IKEA said the tariffs will impact its prices in the U.S.
“With our more than $2 billion investment in U.S. growth, we have expanded domestic sourcing and manufacturing and created jobs,“ it said in a statement. ”We remain committed to keeping prices as low as possible for our customers. As a global company, we source our resources from around the world—including here in the U.S. However, tariff increases will impact our prices in the United States.”
Earlier this month, Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appellate court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which he invoked to impose the levies, does not “explicitly include the power to impose tariffs.”
“The statute bestows significant authority on the president to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax,” the court said in its ruling.
