Tariff-targets Canada, Mexico remain biggest customers for U.S. furniture

HIGH POINT — Two of the United States’ major trading partners whose names have been in the news of late because of the on-again, off-again tariffs aimed at those countries, maintained their positions as the top destinations for U.S. household furniture exports in 2024.

Overall, the United States exported slightly less furniture last year than it did in 2023 — down 1% to $2.272 billion from $2.297 billion — with Canada off by 3% and Mexico up by 4%.

Canada, however, continues to be far-and-away the largest importer of U.S.-made product at more than $1.4 billion, which accounts for nearly 62% of total U.S. furniture exports.

Mexico, which is a distant No. 2, grew its business with the United States to just less than $186 million, accounting for about 8% of the total. Mexico is a buyer of metal furniture from the United States, with miscellaneous wood and plastic furniture products following as the next largest imports.

As was the case in 2023, there was plenty of fluctuation from year-to-year among the United States’ partners.

Saudi Arabia, which fell to the sixth spot on the list of the 10 largest source countries for U.S. household furniture exports, was down by 14% after coming off 2023 when its imports of U.S. product grew by 61%. For 2024, upholstered furniture was its leading category, with wood frame upholstered chairs and upholstered metal and wood frame seats topping the list.

Exiting the Top 10 list was China, which held the No. 7 spot in 2023. For 2024, China ended up No. 14 on the list, with the United States exporting about $18 million in furniture to China. In contrast, the United States’ importation of furniture from China for the year was close to $6 billion.

Along with Mexico, countries that upped their imports of furniture from the United States included Australia, up 9%; Japan, 11%; and Germany 28%, which vaulted into eighth place among the Top 10 after being 15th in 2023.

South Korea, which maintained the No. 9 spot, returned to the growth side with a 13% increase after imports of U.S. product fell by 35% in 2023. At nearly $23 million, South Korea is still behind the $31 million mark it achieved in 2022.

New to the Top 10 for 2024 was Netherlands, which was up 55% to $19.5 million, thus displacing Dominican Republic for the 10th spot. Netherlands was an importer primarily of furniture of other materials, such as cane and bamboo; along with metal furniture.

Among the top categories of products exported by the United States, cane and related furniture saw the biggest growth, up 13% year-over-year to about $160 million, while metal household furniture exports increased by 11%, placing it ninth on the Top 10 list.

The leading category, miscellaneous wood furniture, was off by 5%, falling below $400 million, although wood frame upholstered chairs saw the largest decrease at 9%.

See also:

• Furniture imports, exports rebound in first half of 2024
• By the numbers: What tariff targets Canada and Mexico mean to U.S. trade