Sourcing comparison · Furniture
Tariff & fee savings only, assuming equal product cost — your actual landed cost also depends on price and freight, which vary by supplier.
| Annual import value | Estimated duty & fee savings / year |
|---|---|
| $50,000 | $17,144 |
| $250,000 | $85,719 |
| $1,000,000 | $342,875 |
Savings scale linearly with volume. Enter your exact figure to model it precisely.
Calculate your exact volume →Few procurement levers move landed cost on furniture as fast as switching country of origin. Goods from China clear at an effective 42.5%, while Taiwan clears the same category at 10% — about $34,288 a year at $100,000 of imports. Unlike freight or FX, the duty rate is set by which country's stamp the goods carry — a choice made at the contract, not at the port. The sections that follow show where every dollar of the difference comes from.
Consider what each country's goods actually face at the border. A China origin attracts a 5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty, a 25% Section 301 surcharge, and a 12.5% forced-labor Section 301 duty on its furniture, an effective 42.5% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. From Taiwan, the entry is assessed a 5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 5% forced-labor Section 301 duty on its furniture, an effective 10% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. The 25% Section 301 surcharge is the structural reason China loses this comparison: it is additive, tied to that origin alone, and shows no sign of lapsing. The $49.74 in processing and harbor fees is the same on both sides, leaving the duty layers as the only mover of the gap. Subtract one stack from the other and $3,428.75 per $10,000 shipment separates the two origins. Across a year that is roughly $8,572 on a $25,000 purchase order and about $34,288 on a $100,000 program. Per $25,000 order, $8,572 separates the two origins — small per shipment, compounding fast across a program.
The category, HTS 94, takes in Sofas, Bedroom furniture, Dining tables, Office desks, Outdoor furniture, Mattresses, and Lamps among other furniture. Because furniture moves in volume, even a modest per-unit duty gap aggregates into a number that decides sourcing strategy. On carve-outs: USMCA-qualifying furniture from Mexico qualifies for 0% duty. Some specific furniture categories had temporary S301 exclusions. China, in Asia-Pacific, ships the US mainly consumer electronics, computers servers, and clothing garments. China trades without a special US agreement, so column-1 rates and every surcharge apply to its furniture in full. Taiwan (Asia-Pacific) sends the United States largely semiconductors chips, computers servers, and consumer electronics. Taiwan trades under a bilateral arrangement that sets a fixed rate on furniture alongside the standard duty layers. Because both sit in Asia-Pacific, a switch barely changes the freight picture and mostly changes the duty bill. The recommendation is filtered to feasible suppliers, so Taiwan appears because it plausibly makes furniture, not merely because its rate is low. Sourcing diversification has shifted from resilience theatre to margin necessity, and a documented second source like Taiwan is how buyers act on it.
Where Taiwan is a viable supplier, expect roughly $34,288 at $100,000, rising to about $85,719 at $250,000 and $342,875 at $1,000,000 as volume grows. These are engine-computed stacks, not estimates: identical inputs on both sides except country of origin, so the gap is purely a duty result. These figures reflect tariff and fee savings only, assuming equal product cost — your actual landed cost also depends on price and freight, which vary by supplier. If any price premium from Taiwan is smaller than the duty saving, the switch still wins on net landed cost. Before acting, confirm the Taiwan supplier classifies under the same HTS heading, can meet your volume and certifications, and faces no product-specific exclusion or quota that shifts the duty. Re-run the figures close to your decision: the duty landscape for furniture has shifted repeatedly through the year. Open the Tariff Savings Finder to rank every feasible origin for your specific volume.
Metal, plastic and non-upholstered wooden furniture from China pay 42.5%, the rate shown above. Upholstered wooden furniture (HTSUS 9903.76.02) and kitchen cabinets, vanities and their parts (HTSUS 9903.76.03) sit on a separate Section 232 wood-products tier and total 50% instead, 7.5% higher than the uncovered rate above. The covered lines carry Free MFN duty on their own; the rate shown above for the wider category is a blended MFN figure and is not the covered lines' own basis. This tier is scheduled to rise to 30% on upholstered wooden furniture and 50% on kitchen cabinets, vanities and their parts starting January 1, 2027; it has not taken effect yet and the figures above are the ones that apply today. This tier is charged even on a shipment that qualifies for a USMCA preference claim: the preference removes the other duties on these goods, and this one survives it. The covered figure by origin, against the category rate for the same origin: China 50% against 42.5%; Taiwan 15% against 10%.
At $100,000 of annual import value, switching from China to Taiwan saves an estimated $34,288 in duties and fees, because the effective tariff rate falls from 42.5% to 10%. The saving scales linearly with volume. These figures reflect tariff and fee savings only, assuming equal product cost — your actual landed cost also depends on price and freight, which vary by supplier.
Taiwan-origin furniture is assessed a 5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 5% forced-labor Section 301 duty, for an effective 10% duty rate before the Merchandise Processing Fee ($36.55) and Harbor Maintenance Fee ($13.19).
China carries an effective 42.5% rate versus 10% for Taiwan. The gap is driven mainly by the 25% Section 301 surcharge that applies to Chinese-origin goods and stacks on top of every other layer.
Metal, plastic and non-upholstered wooden furniture from China pay 42.5%, the rate shown above. Upholstered wooden furniture (HTSUS 9903.76.02) and kitchen cabinets, vanities and their parts (HTSUS 9903.76.03) sit on a separate Section 232 wood-products tier and total 50% instead, 7.5% higher than the uncovered rate above. The covered lines carry Free MFN duty on their own; the rate shown above for the wider category is a blended MFN figure and is not the covered lines' own basis. This tier is scheduled to rise to 30% on upholstered wooden furniture and 50% on kitchen cabinets, vanities and their parts starting January 1, 2027; it has not taken effect yet and the figures above are the ones that apply today. This tier is charged even on a shipment that qualifies for a USMCA preference claim: the preference removes the other duties on these goods, and this one survives it. The covered figure by origin, against the category rate for the same origin: China 50% against 42.5%; Taiwan 15% against 10%.
Tariff rates from Tax Foundation, USITC, and Penn Wharton Budget Model; retaliatory and industry data from the ITA Foreign Retaliations Database and U.S. Census Bureau (NAICS). Last verified .
