FIN DeskOriginally published May 12, 2025. This version was rebuilt from the joint statement and later White House orders for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.
After a month of tariffs high enough to stop most trade with China, the two governments announced a pause after weekend talks in Geneva. For furniture, which still sourced a large share of its imports from China, the news landed as a reprieve with a deadline.
The short version
- The United States agreed to suspend most of its April reciprocal tariff on Chinese goods for an initial period, keeping a lower base rate.
- China agreed to make matching cuts and suspend its other countermeasures.
- The window gave importers a chance to restock, but the underlying disputes were unresolved.
What the deal did
The joint statement from Geneva said the United States would suspend 24 percentage points of its reciprocal tariff on Chinese goods for an initial 90 days, keep the remaining 10 percent and remove the later increases it had added in April. China committed to the same structure on its side and to suspend non-tariff measures it had taken against the United States. Both sides agreed to keep talking.
The statement dealt with the reciprocal tariff and the April increases. It did not touch the older tariffs already in place on Chinese goods.
What 90 days meant for furniture
Ninety days is a short time in furniture importing, where an order can take months to reach a warehouse. Retailers who had held off on orders in April could place them for late summer and the holidays at a much lower rate, if factories and freight could keep up.
The harder question was sourcing. Companies that had moved production to Vietnam, Malaysia or elsewhere had paid to do it. A temporary cut didn't change the reasons they left, and no one could say where the rate would land when the clock ran out.
A short window, used carefully
The smart move that May was to buy what the business needed for the next season without betting the year on a rate that could snap back. Freight rates and port congestion were the other risk, since many importers would try to use the same window at once.
Update. The suspension was later extended. An August 2025 order continued it until November 10, 2025.
Where this left the industry in mid-May
The truce turned an impossible tariff into a manageable one for a few months. It did not settle anything, and the companies that came out best treated it as a window, not a new normal.
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