Tempur Sealy & the FTC, Trade Tensions & Canada Strikes Back

Originally published February 3, 2025. This version was rebuilt from government releases and court records for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.

The first weekend of February 2025 was the opening round of the North American tariff fight. By Monday, Mexico had a reprieve, Canada had a list of American goods it planned to tax, and the mattress industry had a court ruling that would reshape it.

The short version

• The White House paused the new tariff on Mexican goods for a month.
• Canada announced counter tariffs on US goods, and its first list includes furniture.
• A federal judge denied the FTC's request to block Tempur Sealy's purchase of Mattress Firm.

Mexico gets a month

The White House order of February 3 paused the additional tariff on Mexican goods until March 4, citing steps Mexico had taken at the border. For furniture companies that buy parts or finished goods from Mexico, it bought a few weeks, not certainty.

Canada answers

Canada announced a counter tariff package covering $155 billion of US goods, with a first list set to take effect February 4 and a larger one to follow after public comment. That first list includes seats and a long run of furniture categories, from office furniture to other furniture and parts.

For US manufacturers that sell into Canada, the cost of that business was about to rise. Domestic makers that had counted on exports as a hedge against weak US demand were suddenly exposed on both sides.

Update. Later on February 3 the White House paused the Canada tariffs until March 4 as well, which put the standoff on hold for a month.

Mattress Firm deal clears court

On January 31 the federal court in Houston denied the FTC's motion for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped Tempur Sealy from closing its purchase of Mattress Firm. The opinion was sealed at first because of confidential industry data, and the court addressed a brief extension of the restraining order so the FTC could seek an appeal.

Update. Tempur Sealy completed the acquisition days later and later renamed itself Somnigroup International.

The deal put Tempur-Pedic, Sealy and the Mattress Firm chain under one owner. Independent bedding retailers had to rethink how they competed with a supplier that was now also a rival.

Where this left the industry in early February

Within a few days the industry learned that tariffs could arrive or pause on short notice, that trading partners would hit back at furniture directly, and that consolidation in bedding would go ahead.

Related on FIN

• Follow the Tariff Dollars
• The Freight Mafia's New Playbook

Sources

• The White House, Progress on the Situation at Our Southern Border, Feb. 3, 2025
• The White House, Progress on the Situation at Our Northern Border, Feb. 3, 2025
• Department of Finance Canada, Canada announces $155B tariff package
• Department of Finance Canada, List of US products subject to 25 per cent tariffs effective Feb. 4, 2025
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, FTC v. Tempur Sealy, Order of Jan. 31, 2025, Dkt. 508 (PDF)
• Tempur Sealy (now Somnigroup), Completion of the Mattress Firm acquisition