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 | $1,319 |
| $250,000 | $6,594 |
| $1,000,000 | $26,375 |
Savings scale linearly with volume. Enter your exact figure to model it precisely.
Calculate your exact volume →Buyers comparing Vietnam and Mexico for furniture are really comparing two very different duty stacks. At 17.5%, Vietnam sits well above Mexico's 15%; on $100,000 of annual buying that difference is around $2,638. 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 breakdown below itemises both duty stacks so the figure is auditable, not asserted.
Here is how US Customs builds the bill for each origin. Sourced from Vietnam, the goods face a 5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 12.5% forced-labor Section 301 duty on its furniture, an effective 17.5% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. On the Mexico side, Customs applies a 5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 10% forced-labor Section 301 duty on its furniture, an effective 15% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. Two charges are origin-blind — the MPF and HMF, together $49.74 on this entry — which is why the entire difference lives in the duty layers. The per-shipment gap comes to $263.75 on $10,000 of goods — a clean read on the 2.5% rate difference. Scaled up, expect near $659 per $25,000 order and around $2,638 once annual buying reaches $100,000. Per $25,000 order, $659 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. The US imports furniture at scale, so the origin mix for this category is unusually sensitive to tariff policy. In practical terms, household furniture, office furniture, outdoor furniture, beds and bedding, lamps, and lighting fixtures; includes both wood and non-wood furniture. Vietnam's trade profile leans toward consumer electronics, clothing garments, and footwear, and it sits in Asia-Pacific. Vietnam's bilateral deal sets a fixed rate on furniture, a structurally different stack from origins without one. Mexico, in North America, ships the US mainly passenger vehicles, auto parts components, and consumer electronics. Under USMCA, Mexico-origin furniture that meets the rules of origin can clear duty-free entirely (USMCA 0%, except Section 338 annex goods) — a decisive edge where qualification holds. Spanning Asia-Pacific and North America, the two lanes differ in freight and transit, so weigh those against the duty saving. The recommendation is filtered to feasible suppliers, so Mexico 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 Mexico is how buyers act on it.
Anchor your own volume to these tiers: $1,319 at $50,000, $6,594 at $250,000, $26,375 at $1,000,000, and about $2,638 at $100,000. The comparison is generated by running the same inputs through the tariff engine for each origin, which keeps everything but the duty layers equal. 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. Read the $2,638 as a transition budget — if re-sourcing to Mexico costs less than the annual saving, it pays back inside a year. Diligence on Mexico is commercial, not regulatory: supplier capacity, MOQ, tooling and re-qualification cost — the duty advantage itself is already settled above. The saving is current today; given the pace of 2026 revisions, verify it again at contract signing. Use the Tariff Savings Finder to test your real numbers and see alternatives beyond Mexico.
Metal, plastic and non-upholstered wooden furniture from Vietnam pay 17.5%, 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 25% 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: Vietnam 25% against 17.5%; Mexico 25% against 15%.
At $100,000 of annual import value, switching from Vietnam to Mexico saves an estimated $2,638 in duties and fees, because the effective tariff rate falls from 17.5% to 15%. 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.
Mexico-origin furniture is assessed a 5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 10% forced-labor Section 301 duty, for an effective 15% duty rate before the Merchandise Processing Fee ($36.55) and Harbor Maintenance Fee ($13.19).
Vietnam carries an effective 17.5% rate versus 15% for Mexico. The gap comes from differences in the base, Section 232 and bilateral rates that apply to each origin.
Metal, plastic and non-upholstered wooden furniture from Vietnam pay 17.5%, 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 25% 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: Vietnam 25% against 17.5%; Mexico 25% against 15%.
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 .
