US to impose 50% tariffs on Canadian products

The Section 338 tariffs include 17 wood furniture, seating and furniture parts categories shipped from Canada

WASHINGTON — Furniture is among the hundreds of product categories impacted by President Trump’s new tariffs on Canada announced Monday.

The action will impose 50% tariffs on more than 350 product segments including 17 furniture, seating and furniture parts categories falling mostly under sections 9401 and 9403. Seats, chairs and wooden bedroom furniture are among the largest categories impacted.

It also impacts five different segments of lighting, including chandeliers, lamps and various parts of lamps, lighting fixtures and illuminated signs, to name a few.

The action is in response to tariffs Canada has imposed on motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts that the U.S. government alleges it does not impose on other countries. It is being implemented under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1338) which the proclamation said “empowers the President to, among other things, impose duties on imports of a foreign country to offset the burden or disadvantage from a foreign country’s discrimination against or unequal imposition on the commerce of the United States.

“Specifically, Canada imposed a tariff system on only U.S. motor vehicles and treats the commerce of foreign countries more favorably than commerce of the United States with respect to motor vehicles, as defined in Canada’s United States Surtax Order,” the president’s proclamation reads. … “By denying to the commerce of the United States the benefits afforded to like commerce from other countries, Canada discriminates against U.S. commerce, disadvantaging the commerce of the United States compared to the commerce of other countries.”

The tariffs take effect after midnight Aug. 19 for goods that enter the U.S. or are shipped from a warehouse starting on that date.

They will not apply to tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which largely covers steel, aluminum and copper along with other metals and derivatives.

However, the new tariff effectively reverses the previous exclusion of tariffs on many Canadian products under the United States Mexico Canada Agreement.

For many years, Canada has been one of the United States’ largest trading partners. According to figures from Mann Armistead & Epperson, it was the fourth largest international source of residential furniture last year, shipping $1.65 billion in product to the U.S., much of which is wood furniture. It also is the top export market for U.S.-made furniture with $1.45 billion in shipments to Canada last year.

In addition to furniture and lighting, the tariffs would impact dozens of different types of plywood, along with MDF, fiberboard and laminated veneered lumber and panels. It is unclear how much of this is used in domestically made furniture.

The administration’s latest move on tariffs follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling determining that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were illegal as they can only be imposed by Congress. However, the administration has imposed tariffs under other means including Section 232, which impacts several categories of upholstery imported from around the world.

One industry observer noted that the latest news regarding Canada is among the shifts in policy that are making it difficult for businesses operating in a global economy.

“The common thread is uncertainty,” the source noted. “Businesses can adapt to changing rules, but those changes come at a cost — requiring countless hours to reprice products, update systems, adjust sourcing and revise forecasts. Just as damaging, the uncertainty ripples downstream, making it difficult for customers, suppliers and consumers to plan with confidence. In many ways, uncertainty has become the costliest tariff of all.”