Planning to renovate your home? That may soon cost more from tariffs
One business Esslinger often relies on to provide light fixtures, rugs, furniture and all manner of wholesale home goods for clients implemented a 'temporary tariff surcharge' of 14% on all goods from China and a 2% charge on items imported from any other country beginning on May 12.
Another business that provides fabric, wallpaper and trim emailed Esslinger to say it would re-evaluate its pricing strategy on May 15.
'I've seen it where sometimes they don't even warn you. I've gone to a website to look at a product I might have sourced a month ago, and now suddenly it's a certain percentage more,' Esslinger said.
'Just like everything, you have to pass that cost along if you want to stay profitable,' he added.
For the last few years, the home renovation space has been booming, but Washington's ever-shifting tariff policies threaten to change that.
That's because the US imports billions of dollars worth of home goods from around the globe, from Tuscan tilework to Chinese refrigerators. Those products, along with raw construction materials, have been hit by Trump's tariff agenda.
Professionals in the home renovation space, from decorators to general contractors, told CNN their businesses have been bracing for higher prices since President Donald Trump first announced tariffs on imports from most countries in early April.
Though Trump has temporarily placed many of the largest tariff increases on pause, high tariffs remain in effect, and uncertainty about future costs persists, many said.
'It's top of mind at this point. On the contractor side, they're waiting to see how it unfolds,' said Julie Kheyfets, the CEO of Block Renovation, an online platform that connects contractors with homeowners. 'The thing about renovations is, every renovation is different. You can't stock a bunch of extra materials ahead of time, because every homeowner wants something different.'
Some home goods have already been pulled from the market entirely due to sharp changes in tariffs.
Sandy Schargel, an interior decorator from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was recently informed that thousands of dollars in light fixtures she had ordered for a client were no longer available, due to tariff-induced discontinuations. By the time she was notified, alternative options from the same lighting company had all risen 10% in price.
Schargel told CNN that if she can no longer access some imported products, she would turn to American-made alternatives, which may add costs for homeowners.
'When you come to the lower price points, American-made does limit things, somewhat,' Schargel said. 'Imported merchandise often has lower price options.'
Schargel said she has encouraged clients on tighter budgets to order what they need as soon as possible to avoid prices going up further down the line.
China is one of the largest exporters of home goods to the US. In 2024, the country sent more than $438 billion worth of goods into American homes. Nearly 19% of that total was machinery and mechanical appliances, such as refrigerators, dish washing machines and laundry machines, according to data from the US International Trade Commission. Furniture, bedding, lamps and lighting were a further 4% of last year's imports from China.
For a little more than a month, the 145% tariff Trump placed on imports from China vastly eclipsed tariffs on other nations' imports. However, on Monday, the US and China agreed to lower tariffs on each other – a positive step in trade relations between the two countries after tensions had ratcheted up in the last few weeks. For at least 90 days, most imports from China will be taxed at 30%.
Blanket 10% tariffs are also in place with most other US trading partners, though higher rates could kick back in on July 9.
It is too early to tell whether the pause in the highest tariffs on China will reverse price hikes and shortages. Esslinger said so far this week, no home goods importers he works with have said they planned to lower prices.
Earlier this year, a report from the National Association of Home Builders estimated that the remodeling industry is poised for growth amid an aging housing stock. As fewer new homes have been built in the last decade and fewer Americans move, homeowners would be more likely to renovate their older homes, the report said.
Esslinger, the interior designer from the Chicago area, along with other home renovation professionals CNN spoke to, said tariff whiplash was slowing down business, though.
'The word that just keeps coming up is uncertainty,' Esslinger said. 'I think some folks just don't feel super confident. I've had some clients say they're going to hold off for a little bit and see how things go, while some have scaled back a little bit.'
But not everyone in the home renovation space has felt the full impact of tariffs yet.
Nina Sepiashvily, who runs I&N Builders, a New York City-based construction company, said that while she may have noticed a slight increase in prices so far, it pales in comparison to the soaring prices she experienced in the years after the start of the pandemic, when inflation began to take off.
As a construction company owner, she generally doesn't handle buying finished goods like appliances and furniture, but rather handles purchasing building materials, like lumber.
Although the US imports a significant percentage of lumber from Canada, the additional tariff increase on that import hasn't yet taken effect. The tariff on lumber currently sits at 14.5%, but the US Commerce Department has signaled it plans to hike tariffs on Canadian lumber by more than double, to 34.5%, in the coming months.
'We haven't really seen (tariffs) affect our costs yet,' Sepiashvily said. But while clients are still interested in planning renovations, many aren't ready to move forward yet, she added. Homeowners are 'uncertain about tariffs, they're uncertain about their investments and they're afraid to pull the trigger.'
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