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.
Photo of Wall Street (Matteo Colombo/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks slid on Monday morning in the first trading session since President Donald Trump announced a new 15% tariff on most imported goods, intensifying his effort to impose levies that were struck down by the Supreme Court.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 90 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.1%.
Cryptocurrency prices tumbled in early trading on Monday. The price of bitcoin fell nearly 2%, putting it at about $66,075.
Gold prices jumped to their highest level in three weeks as investors sought the safe-heaven asset amid heightened uncertainty.
In a social media post on Monday, Trump reiterated his criticism of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, Trump said, “accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior.”
Trump retains the power to levy a 15% tariff for up to 150 days under the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to address trade disparities with other countries.
Hours after the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, Trump said he would sign an executive order enacting a new 10% “global tariff,” invoking authority under Section 122. On Saturday, Trump escalated the tariff to 15%.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A ”For Sale” sign is outside a residential home in Oro Valley, Ariz., Dec.12, 2025. (Michael Yanow/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since September as fallout from the Iran war ripples through financial markets, Freddie Mac data on Thursday showed.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.46%, continuing a weeks-long surge since the war began on Feb. 28, during which time mortgage rates have increased nearly half a percentage point.
Mortgage rates remain slightly lower than this time a year ago, when the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stood at 6.64%.
The recent spike in borrowing costs risks further strain on U.S. households as they weather elevated gasoline prices.
The rise in mortgage rates owes to a jump in U.S. Treasury yields as investors fear a bout of inflation in response to the Middle East conflict.
High bond yields make borrowing more expensive for average Americans, since 10-year Treasury rates influence the rates offered for a variety of loans, including mortgages and credit cards.
Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher consumer prices that would eat away at those annual payouts. In turn, bonds often become less attractive in response to economic turmoil. When demand falls, bond yields rise.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, meaning the amount paid to a bondholder annually, stands at about 4.31%, about 0.35 percentage points higher than pre-war levels.
“Mortgage rates have risen as bond market yields have sought to price in the risk of higher inflation in the future,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, previously told ABC News.
Last week, bond yields soared close to levels reached in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025, when the 10-year Treasury yield peaked at around 4.5%.
Bond yields eased in recent days as Trump signaled a possible off-ramp from the war with Iran.
Heart shaped boxes of chocolate are displayed for sale in Key West. (Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Valentine’s Day shoppers may feel jilted by runaway chocolate prices.
Chocolate prices soared 14.4% over the initial weeks of 2026 when compared to the same period a year earlier, nearly doubling the pace of price increases at the start of 2025, according to findings shared with ABC News by intelligence firm Datasembly.
The sharp rise in chocolate prices owes to a cocoa shortage caused primarily by adverse weather and crop disease in West Africa, which accounts for about 70% of the world’s cocoa, some analysts told ABC News.
The dearth of cocoa, analysts said, has ratcheted up input costs for chocolate makers and vaulted retail prices, leading to sticker shock in grocery and candy store aisles.
“There is a record gap between supply and demand,” David Branch, sector manager at the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, told ABC News.
Raw cocoa bean prices have risen dramatically in recent years due to the choke in supply. A metric ton of cocoa beans cost as much $12,000 last year, Branch said. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, cocoa bean prices hovered between $2,000 and $2,500 per metric ton, International Monetary Fund data shows.
In recent months, supply problems have begun to ease, bringing cocoa bean costs down significantly from last year’s peak. A metric ton of cocoa beans now runs about $3,700.
Still, chocolate prices remain highly elevated as chocolate makers sell through candy made with cocoa beans bought earlier, analysts said.
“A lot of manufacturers bought cocoa when prices were high and that’s still very much moving through the supply chain,” David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University, told ABC News.
In November, the White House announced framework trade agreements with some Latin American countries in an attempt to ease surging prices for grocery staples such as cocoa. While the U.S. imports a significant share of cocoa from West Africa, supply also comes from Latin American countries like Ecuador, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
“Today’s announcements underscore the Administration’s unwavering commitment to fair and balanced trade at every opportunity to protect and strengthen our economic and national security,” the White House said when it unveiled the framework agreements.
Prices remain high for some other imported food items, such as coffee and beef.
Coffee prices surged about 18% in January compared to a year earlier, while ground beef prices climbed more than 17% over that span, Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Friday showed.
Grocery prices are rising at a faster pace than prices overall, climbing 2.9% over the year ending in January, according to BLS data.
Chocolate price hikes will likely ease over the coming months, some analysts said, noting the eventual pass through of lower cocoa prices into the cost of chocolate bought at stores. Analysts emphasized, however, the uncertainty surrounding the outlook due to the chance of weather-related challenges for growers.
Branch, of Wells Fargo, said chocolate prices could even fall by the latter part of this year as manufacturers find cost relief and pass it along to shoppers.
“If market trends stay where they are, we’ll see lower prices for Halloween,” Branch said.
