To mark this occasion, President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation. Further, he is pushing back the date of the increased tariffs on imported upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities by one full year. This decision is part of a long-time unraveling of trade policy. We’re particularly attuned to how these policies will impact American families and American industries.
The tariff increases were first slated to begin New Year’s Day. They included a doozy of a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture and a whopping 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and vanities. The Trump administration rolled out a more sweeping policy in September. One such strategy involved using a 25% tariff on selected imports to address trade imbalances among other domestic economic concerns.
Preceding this furniture ruling, the U.S. government had tried to impose enormous tariffs on Italian pasta producers. Last fall, the U.S. Commerce Department started an antidumping review. This move came after claims that Italian pasta makers were dumping their pasta into the U.S. market at below-cost prices. The original proposed tariffs on Italian pasta would have doubled costs for American consumers. Given the urgency of this moment, that worried countless families deeply.
Italian pasta exports to the U.S. reached new highs of €671 million, or $787 million, in 2024. This increase led to fears of retaliatory tariffs from the food and agriculture sector. The formal vote on these sanctions was scheduled for January 2nd. That date has now been pushed back to March 12.
Trump has indicated that the tariffs are necessary to “bolster American industry and protect national security.” The proposed reforms met with fierce resistance from the Italian lobby groups Coldiretti and Filiera Italia. They expressed concerns about the impact of such tariffs on their industry, warning that it could lead to “opening the door to Italian-sounding products and penalizing the authentic quality of Made in Italy.”
The first effect on the ground has been the relief with which Coldiretti and Filiera Italia welcomed the delay in tariffs. In a recent statement, they said, “Coldiretti and Filiera Italia will continue to defend our premium pasta exported to the U.S. market, which we have supported with a strong campaign in the international media.”
Though all of these changes are indeed a positive sign of a change in the administration’s approach to tariffs, the jury is still out. Lobby groups are already putting enormous pressure. This sets a very dangerous precedent for future tariff decisions on furniture and Italian pasta as well, resulting in millions of dollars in economic harm.
