Soft 2025 Furniture Start, Tariff Shake-Up, and a Reciprocal Plan

Originally published February 14, 2025. This version was rebuilt from the Census Bureau's advance retail sales report, the reciprocal trade memorandum and White House tariff actions for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.

The first retail data of 2025 arrived the same week as a new plan for tariffs on every trading partner. Furniture stores started the year softer than the headlines suggested.

The short version

• Census said furniture store sales fell 1.7% in January from December but rose 3.7% from a year earlier.
• The reciprocal trade memo set out a Fair and Reciprocal Plan for tariffs by trading partner.
• Steel and aluminum tariffs were restored at 25%.

A soft start

The Census Bureau's advance report showed furniture and home furnishings store sales down 1.7% in January from December, though up 3.7% from January 2024. Total retail and food services sales fell 0.9% to $723.9 billion but were up 4.2% from a year earlier.

The yearly gain was real, but January gave back part of December's strong holiday month.

Tariffs shake up imports

On February 13 the President signed a memorandum creating a Fair and Reciprocal Plan to determine the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff for each trading partner. Agencies were told to study foreign tariffs, taxes and other barriers.

Asian countries that had become major furniture suppliers after the 2018 China tariffs could face higher rates under a reciprocal approach.

The memo followed the 10% duty on Chinese goods and the 25% steel and aluminum tariffs announced days earlier.

Update. On April 2 the plan led to reciprocal tariffs on most trading partners, and the Supreme Court later ruled that IEEPA does not authorize those tariffs.

What comes next

Retailers had a soft January and the prospect of higher landed costs by spring. The weeks ahead would be spent asking suppliers about price changes and alternative sourcing.

What's next for the industry

A soft start to sales and a broad new tariff plan set the tone for 2025. Furniture businesses with flexible sourcing and pricing had the most room to respond.

Related on FIN

• Furniture Store Sales Fell 2.7%. Every Other Category Grew.
• Follow the Tariff Dollars

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, Advance monthly retail sales, January 2025
• The White House, Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs memorandum (Feb. 13, 2025)
• The White House, Fact sheet restoring Section 232 tariffs (Feb. 11, 2025)
• The White House, Executive Order 14257 (Apr. 2, 2025)
• Supreme Court of the United States, Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, opinion (Feb. 20, 2026)
• The White House, Executive Order 14195 on China (Feb. 1, 2025)