North Carolina furniture makers say new tariffs may help them compete against imports, but their industry relies on global supplies that are getting more expensive.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Twenty-five-percent tariff went into place this month that will impact many items found in the home, including cabinets, vanities and furniture. One of the goals is to bring manufacturing back to places like North Carolina, where furniture making has a long history. Paul Garber from member station WFDD in Winston-Salem reports that many there believe that is good in theory, but that reality is more complicated.
PAUL GARBER, BYLINE: It’s early morning, and workers are already active sewing…
(SOUNDBITE OF SEWING MACHINE WHIRRING)
GARBER: …Stapling…
(SOUNDBITE OF STAPLE GUN FIRING)
GARBER: …And building the frames that will ultimately carry the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams brand.
MITCHELL GOLD: To me, a symphony is hearing staple guns and sewing machines.
GARBER: That’s Mitchell Gold, co-founder of the company known for its high-end upholstered products.
GOLD: I love the sound – the hum of a factory.
GARBER: This factory is in the mountain town of Taylorsville, North Carolina. About 95% of their customers are also in the U.S. Gold says the new 25% levy will help American-based companies like his.
GOLD: I think the tariffs will have a big impact on the higher-end upholstery business in North Carolina. And it’s a good impact.
GARBER: He says it makes his products more competitive against imports. Furniture manufacturing was once an industrial powerhouse in North Carolina, but this century has seen declines. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond traces the slide to the U.S.-China bilateral WTO agreement signed in November 1999. That opened the door to cheaper labor abroad, especially in Asia. Over the next decade, North Carolina’s furniture-making industry lost more than half its jobs. The tariffs are intended to bring many of them back, but it won’t be easy.
(SOUNDBITE OF BRAKES SQUEAKING)
GARBER: Buses are dropping off furniture buyers and sellers at the High Point Market. It’s the largest global trade gathering for furniture, covering 11 million square feet of showrooms. Palmer Smith is sitting outside of one of them for his company, South + English.
PALMER SMITH: We are doing French, mid-century-inspired furniture – very modern, very edgy, but American-made.
GARBER: He’s not seeing as many retail buyers as in previous years.
SMITH: There should be people out here drinking and laughing, having a good time. There’s nobody here. It’s just really quiet ’cause everyone’s terrified of what things are going to cost, and they’re just sitting it out.
GARBER: He thinks tariffs are part of the reason for the slowdown. It’s just the uncertainty.
Alex Shuford is CEO of Rock House Farm. The company has nine factories in the North Carolina area producing residential furniture lines, including the Century and Hickory Chair brands.
ALEX SHUFORD: Obviously, we are the poster child of the company type that this is supposed to help.
GARBER: While he supports the idea of reviving domestic furniture manufacturing, he already has 50 factory jobs for which he can’t find qualified workers. He says furniture making has a complicated supply chain that relies on imports, mainly from Asia, from parts to fabrics. And Shuford fears the system could break under tariffs, especially if prices jump up quickly and customers delay purchases of big-ticket items like sofas.
SHUFORD: They’ll decide not to buy for the next six months or a year to see if maybe the tariff policy changes. And if they do that for long enough, then those retailers start to struggle, and some of them might fail. And if we lose enough retailers, then it’ll start damaging our opportunity in the market, too.
GARBER: Many of the 25% furniture-related tariffs are slated to go up January 1 to as much as 50%. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a challenge to Trump’s tariffs next week.
For NPR News, I’m Paul Garber in High Point, North Carolina.
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