Furniture retailer stocks rise after Trump issues one-year pause on higher tariffs

Shares in home furnishing retailers jumped Friday after President Trump announced a one-year pause on higher tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities. Luxury furniture retailer RH rose 9.5% and online retailer Wayfair jumped 6.3%. Stock for Williams-Sonoma, which sells kitchenware and home decor, increased 5.3%.Other American furniture retailers like Ethan Allen and La-Z-Boy rose 1% and 0.4%, respectively.In a fact sheet shared late Wednesday, the White House said it was keeping tariffs on furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities at the original 25% rate that Trump set in September.Rates had been set to rise Thursday, New Year’s Day, to 30% on upholstered furniture and to 50% on kitchen cabinets and vanities.Economists feared the tariff hikes could result in substantial price increases for customers, since furniture is a particularly tariff-sensitive category – and a large-ticket purchase for many American families.In November, prices on furniture and bedding were up 3% over the year, according to the Consumer Price Index.“The United States continues to engage in productive negotiations with trade partners to address trade reciprocity and national security concerns with respect to imports of wood products,” the White House fact sheet stated.The Trump administration said it was delaying the higher tariffs until Jan.1, 2027, due to ongoing trade talks, not because it was retreating from its tariff agenda.It has been awaiting a Supreme Court decision on a vast batch of tariffs implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.If the Supreme Court finds that Trump overstepped his authority and decides overturns the IEEPA tariffs, the US government could be forced to refund as much as $168 billion to businesses, according to a recent analysis cited by CBS News.

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