White House delays new tariffs on furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) In the latest reversal of his signature economic policy, President Donald Trump is rolling back tariffs on furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities.
Higher tariff rates on those goods that were set to take effect Jan. 1 will now be delayed for another year, according to a White House fact sheet.
In October, the White House imposed a 25% tariff on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities. Rates for cabinets and vanities were set to go up to 50% in 2026, while upholstered wooden furniture — like sofas or chairs — were set to increase to 30%.
This move means that, for now, the 25% tariff stays in effect on all those goods until at least Jan. 1, 2027.
The White House cited “productive negotiations with trade partners to address trade reciprocity and national security concerns with respect to imports of wood products.”
Furniture prices have already been going up — the latest inflation report shows living room, kitchen and dining room furniture prices increased 4.6% in November compared to one year ago.
When the White House first announced the tariffs, stocks of companies that import furniture from overseas like Restoration Hardware, Wayfair and Williams Sonoma traded lower.
Amid many households’ concerns about affordability and rising prices, President Trump has already rolled back tariffs on more than 200 foods like coffee and bananas.
(NEW YORK) — Starbucks baristas are set to walk off the job in dozens of U.S. cities on Thursday, aiming to galvanize public support and pressure the company on “Red Cup Day,” the coffee giant’s annual holiday promotion.
More than 1,000 Starbucks workers will go on strike at about 65 stores scattered across states as far-flung as California, Texas and Pennsylvania, Starbucks Workers United (SWU), the union representing the workers, told ABC News in a statement.
Union members say Starbucks has failed to make new proposals on key issues like staffing levels and pay since the labor group rejected a company offer in April. The workers also seek to resolve hundreds of allegations over illegal labor practices, including claims of retaliation targeting union members.
“We’re turning the Red Cup Season into the Red Cup Rebellion. Starbucks’ refusal to settle a fair union contract and end union busting is forcing us to take drastic action,” Amos Hall, a barista at a store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told ABC News in a statement.
In a statement to ABC News, Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson downplayed the scale of the anticipated strike and faulted the union for what she described as a refusal to bargain with the company.
“We are disappointed that Workers United, who only represents around 4% of our partners, has voted to authorize a strike instead of returning to the bargaining table. When they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk,” Anderson said.
“Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail, including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners,” Anderson added.
Anderson contested the union’s characterization of the impasse in negotiations, saying the union brought an incomplete proposal to its members for the ill-fated vote in April.
Starbucks Workers United said it represents more than 12,000 unionized baristas at over 600 stores. The company provided ABC News with a lower estimate, saying the union counts 9,500 members at about 550 locations.
In February 2024, Starbucks Workers United and Starbucks announced they would work on a “foundational framework” to reach a collective bargaining agreement for stores. Negotiations began in April of that year.
Within months, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol took the helm of the company, vowing to rejuvenate performance after a years-long spell of sluggish sales.
The company recently reported U.S. same-store sales over three months ending in September had been flat, snapping a streak of six consecutive quarters of decline. Same-store sales is a measure of revenue generated at existing locations over time.
“The plan is working,” Niccol said on a conference call with analysts last month. “We have more work to do, we’re building momentum.”
Meanwhile, the company and the union have yet to strike a deal on a contract. The average length of time before a new union signs its first contract is 409 days, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis in 2021. Roughly 625 days have passed since Starbucks and the union announced a mutual commitment to reach an agreement.
Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor relations professor at Cornell University, said the strike on Thursday marked an effort to pressure Starbucks and jumpstart negotiations.
“Starbucks workers are striking and engaging customer support to get Starbucks back to the table. They may also need to again mount a large campaign with investors and other stakeholders to convince Starbucks that reaching a first contract is in the company’s best interest,” Bronfenbrenner told ABC News in a statement.
(NEW YORK) — Consumer sentiment soured in October as a government shutdown threatens to weaken a wobbly economy beset by an uptick in inflation and a sharp slowdown of hiring, fresh data on Friday showed. The reading marked a decrease from the previous month but it came in higher than economists expected.
Shopper attitudes have worsened for three consecutive months, resuming a decline that took hold after President Donald Trump took office, University of Michigan Survey data showed.
At its low point this year, consumer sentiment fell close to its worst level since an acute bout of inflation three years ago. The measure remains well below where it stood in December, before Trump took office.
Year-ahead inflation expectations ticked down from 4.7% in September to 4.6% in October, the data showed. The outcome anticipated by respondents would put inflation well above its current level of 2.9%. Long-run inflation expectations held steady from the previous month, data showed.
The data on consumer sentiment is likely to garner more attention than usual, since the government shutdown has halted closely watched releases from the federal government, including monthly jobs and inflation reports.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, is a key bellwether for the outlook of the nation’s economy.
A government shutdown typically risks only modest damage for the economy but it can cause a marked decline in consumer sentiment, threatening a later drop in consumer spending, some experts previously told ABC News.
Consumer sentiment fell more than 7 points from December 2018 to January 2019, coinciding with the most recent 35-day government shutdown, according to a Committee for Responsible Federal Budget analysis of University of Michigan survey data. A souring of consumer sentiment, albeit limited, occurred over each of the three most recent shutdowns that preceded 2018.
The government shutdown, which entered its 10th day on Friday, has shown little sign of resolution. The Senate has rejected dueling funding proposals from Democrats and Republicans in seven separate votes.
The shutdown has coincided with a delicate moment for the nation’s economy, as a hiring slowdown stokes recession fears and inflation proves difficult to fully contain.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last month that policymakers face a “challenging situation” while they attempt to navigate the economy through a “turbulent period.”
Union leaders and members celebrate the defeat of a measure to overturn the hotel and airport $30 per hour minimum wage at Los Angeles City Hall in downtown, Sept. 9, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Nearly 20 U.S. states are set to raise their minimum wage in 2026, boosting pay for millions of workers spanning from Arizona to New Jersey.
A mix of Republican- and Democrat-controlled states will raise their wage floors on Jan. 1 in keeping with inflation-adjusted increases or as part of scheduled hikes that take effect at the beginning of each calendar year.
The pay increases will affect about 8.3 million workers, who will gain a combined $5 billion over the course of 2026, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, or EPI.
Beginning next year, the number of workers living in a state that guarantees a $15 minimum wage will exceed the number living in a state that offers the federal wage floor of $7.25 per hour, the EPI found.
After the wave of wage hikes, Washington will become the state with the highest minimum wage, offering workers $17.13 per hour.
Workers in New York will enjoy the second-highest wage floor, as the state implements a minimum hourly wage of $17 for workers in New York City, Long Island and Westchester. Outside those areas, workers in New York will receive at least $16 per hour.
Overall, the 19 states set to raise their minimum wage on Thursday include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
The nation’s highest wage floors will take effect in some of the nearly 50 cities and other localities that will impose minimum pay hikes.
Twenty-nine localities in California will see pay hikes, including a $20.25 an hour wage floor that will take effect in West Hollywood. Eight localities in Washington will increase their minimum wage, among them the country’s highest wage floor: $21.65 an hour in Tukwila.
The latest round of pay increases, however, will not affect 20 states concentrated in the South that lack a minimum wage or offer a minimum wage that does not exceed the federal minimum.
The last federal minimum wage hike took place in 2009, when Congress raised the pay floor to its current level. Since then, the federal minimum wage has lost more than 30% of its value due to inflation, EPI found.
