by Asian shows typically draw significant attendance from the U.S. market
HIGH POINT — With the fall High Point and Interwoven market circuits a distant memory, you might hazard to guess that we are a little tired of writing about home furnishings markets.
To some degree, that’s true. But as always at this time of year, we and the rest of the industry start looking forward to trade shows in Asia and other parts of the world starting in the first and second quarters.
This year things could be different. Of course, that largely depends on how the second Trump administration pursues tariffs against China and other parts of the world including Vietnam, Malaysia and perhaps even Mexico.
Could the threats and bluster become a reality? The answer is yes given that any promises made to lower taxes must come with an accompanying decrease in expenses or increase in revenues that would come from tariffs.
And there’s no doubt about it that such tariffs would be paid almost entirely by consumers, including those who voted for the new administration that’s imposing them. And if what we hear is true, then these tariffs will make whatever inflation everyone was complaining about (present company included) look like throwing a few spare pennies into a fountain in the park. It’s going to get ugly — just wait and see.
But this same threat of tariffs could curb buyer appetite to attend shows overseas, particularly shows in China, but likely other shows too, ranging from Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta to Ho Chi Minh City and even Guadalajara.
It’s clear that attendance from North America is important to these events with buyers from both wholesalers and retailers alike among the mix. The goal for retailers in particular is to source wood furniture, upholstery and accent furniture direct as it helps reduce the cost to the end consumer without having to buy certain items from other well-known U.S. importers.
But even sourcing direct could prove a challenge to retailers that are having to bear the cost of increased tariffs as an importer of record. We’ve heard that some already are putting the breaks on container shipments because they don’t want to pay higher costs associated with tariffs. Rumblings of this today will become one of the big stories of the year should new and higher tariffs take effect. And that will not only put a damper on attendance at the shows, but potentially attendance at some showrooms here in the U.S. including High Point and Las Vegas.
The good news for the international shows is that they draw buyers from all over the world, whether it be from China or other parts of Asia, including Japan and Taiwan, not to mention Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Canada and Mexico, just to name several. Those countries already take up a significant amount of furniture manufacturing capacity, particularly in Asia. But we know any drop in U.S. attendance would be missed, particularly as buyers have started to return to the shows in the past couple of years, post-Covid.
Mexico also could feel the sting should it too face tariffs as a loyal number of buyers and suppliers have relied on its growing capabilities in wood furniture and upholstery.
Of course the jury is still out on what tariffs will look like and the overall impact they might have. But we all need to be prepared for an interesting ride that could create further disruption in the marketplace just when we were thinking things might get back to normal following an intense slowdown at retail. The winter show circuit that kicks off the new year, both here and in Asia, could very well be the first segment of the industry to feel its most immediate and palpable effects.
