Furniture is unusually exposed in the current tariff era because it is bulky, low in value per pound, and largely sourced from a small group of Asian countries, most of which face recent rate actions. A bedframe or sofa carries little duty per cubic foot of shipping, so when a surcharge stacks onto an already freight-heavy product, the added cost tends to land disproportionately on your landed price. Wood furniture has been a recurring target of trade actions, which means a current stacked rate can sit on top of pre-existing antidumping orders rather than replacing them.
Representative 2026 estimate stacking base MFN duty (USITC HTS 2026 Rev.10), Section 301 on China-origin goods (USTR), Section 232 on autos and steel/aluminum/copper articles (CRS IN12545), and the 10% Section 122 surcharge that expires 2026-07-24 and is under appeal (Skadden). Your exact per-SKU duty depends on the precise HS code, which MarginGuard resolves from the live HTS schedule once connected. Not legal or customs advice.
Goods from India enter the United States under current reciprocal-era tariff treatment, which layers a country-level reciprocal load on top of the normal HTS base duty set by each product's classification. India's former Generalized System of Preferences benefits, which once let many qualifying lines enter duty-free, have lapsed, so older zero-duty treatment can no longer be assumed. For landed cost, the figure that usually matters is the stacked total (base duty plus the reciprocal load), not the base rate alone, and it differs by product category and by precise HS code. The rate box on this page shows a representative current-era estimate for the category shown; the exact figure depends on how your specific SKU is classified.
India is a genuine diversification option away from China, not a guaranteed low-duty discount. It carries its own reciprocal-era load, so the stacked rate has to be priced out per category rather than assumed from a country's reputation, which is why the per-category rate box matters more than any blanket label. There are two honest catches. First, the lapse of GSP removed the duty-free treatment that historically made certain Indian goods attractive. Second, India's competitiveness is uneven by sector: historically stronger in areas like textiles, apparel, leather, and jewelry, and generally less so in advanced electronics. Treat it as one origin to price per SKU against China and other alternatives, and confirm that any duty advantage you are counting on still applies under today's rules. As general guidance and not customs or legal advice, qualifying for any reduced-duty program depends on rules of origin and proper classification, and the exact rate depends on your SKU's HS code.
That's a single SKU. Across a full catalog the tariff hits every imported product differently depending on its cost and price — which is exactly why margin damage hides until a quarter closes light.
Paste your Shopify URL. In about ten seconds you'll see every SKU that dropped below your target margin after the current India tariffs — and the exact price to charge to recover each one. Free, no login.
Scan your store free →Landed cost = unit cost × (1 + tariff rate). To get back to a target margin M, the recovery price is landed cost ÷ (1 − M). For a $250 chair from India at a 14% stacked rate, that means charging $237.50 to hold a 40% margin. Round to a clean price point and test it; the point is to stop selling underwater.
Most finished furniture classifies under HTS chapter 94, where the heading turns mainly on use and material: seats (9401), other furniture such as tables, dressers, and bedframes (9403), and mattresses and bedding (9404) each carry different base treatment, and within those the material — wood, metal, plastic, or upholstered — can move the rate. The base MFN duty for the category is generally modest, but the duty that actually lands on your invoice is the country-of-origin load stacked on top, plus any product-specific antidumping or countervailing duty — for example the AD/CVD orders associated with wooden bedroom furniture and certain mattresses from specific countries — which in some cases can be much larger than the ordinary rate. Whether any such order reaches a given product, and the exact treatment, depends on the precise HS code and origin. Whether a piece is motorized, upholstered, or imported as a kit of parts versus fully assembled can also shift it into a different subheading with different treatment.
A common and costly mistake is treating every piece that holds your goods as one furniture line. Chapter 94 applies a use-and-form test: a seat generally classifies in 9401 even if it is a stool or bench, a storage cabinet generally goes in 9403, and some wall-mounted shelving or display units may fall outside chapter 94 depending on the specific article and its construction. A bigger trap is wooden bedroom furniture — dressers, nightstands, and headboards — which can fall under subheadings associated with antidumping orders; classifying such an item as generic "other wooden furniture" to sidestep that scope is the kind of call customs can reclassify on review, potentially with back duties. The precise subheading and whether an AD/CVD order reaches your SKU depend on the exact HS code and construction, so confirm it per product — ideally with a licensed customs broker — rather than applying one assumption across the whole catalog.
Furniture sourcing has shifted toward Vietnam and, increasingly, Thailand, India, and Cambodia, in part to move away from earlier China-specific actions — but a country switch only helps if it also clears any antidumping order that attaches to a specific product-and-origin pair, not just the headline tariff. Because furniture is assembly-heavy, substantial-transformation rules matter: shipping Chinese components to a third country for final assembly does not automatically change the country of origin for duty purposes, and this pattern has drawn enforcement attention. The more durable levers for a bulky category are renegotiating FOB cost, consolidating freight to cut the per-unit landed hit, and moving to knock-down (flat-pack) construction that ships denser — then modeling all-in landed cost per origin before committing, since the lowest-tariff country is rarely the lowest landed cost once freight and any AD/CVD are counted. Confirm origin treatment for your specific goods with a licensed customs broker.
Why is my furniture duty higher than the base furniture rate I looked up?
The ordinary MFN duty for chapter 94 is generally modest, but it is rarely the whole story. Your landed duty is that base rate plus the current country-of-origin load, and for wooden bedroom furniture or certain mattresses it can also include a product-specific antidumping or countervailing duty tied to your exact origin. Those AD/CVD margins are typically set per producer and can be far larger than the ordinary rate, which is one reason two similar dressers from different factories can clear at very different totals. The exact figures depend on the specific HS code and origin.
Does flat-pack or knock-down furniture get classified differently than assembled?
It can. A complete piece imported unassembled is often still classified as the finished article under chapter 94, but kits, parts, and components can fall into separate subheadings — sometimes with different duty treatment — depending on how complete the shipment is. The practical benefit of flat-pack is usually freight: denser cartons cut your per-unit shipping, which for a bulky low-margin category can move landed cost more than chasing a fractionally lower duty line. Confirm the subheading per SKU, since how 'complete' the kit is can change the answer.
If I move furniture production from China to Vietnam, does the China rate go away?
The China-specific load can go away, but generally only if the goods genuinely originate in Vietnam under the substantial-transformation test — final assembly of Chinese parts may not be enough to change the country of origin for duty purposes. This pattern of routing through third countries has drawn enforcement attention, and an incorrect origin claim can expose you to back duties and penalties. You also have to check whether an antidumping order already covers furniture from the new country, since some orders span multiple origins. For a specific move, confirm the origin treatment with a licensed customs broker.
Is sourcing from India still duty-free under GSP?
No. India's Generalized System of Preferences beneficiary status has lapsed, so goods that once entered duty-free under GSP no longer qualify on that basis. An Indian-origin import now generally pays its normal HTS base duty plus the current reciprocal-era load. If an old supplier quote or landed-cost model still assumes GSP zero duty, it is out of date and should be repriced against the rate shown on this page, which reflects your SKU's category.
Does sourcing from India avoid the China tariff stack?
It can avoid the China-specific tariff measures, such as Section 301 duties, but it does not make goods duty-free. Indian-origin products carry their own base HTS duty plus a reciprocal-era country load, and the stacked result depends on the product category and the exact HS code. Whether moving off China actually protects margin varies by SKU, so compare the per-category rate in the rate box rather than assuming any origin switch automatically helps.
What determines my real landed cost when importing from India?
Two things: your product's HTS classification, which sets the base duty, and the current reciprocal-era load applied to Indian-origin goods, which stacks on top. The combined rate, applied to your unit cost, is what compresses margin, and it differs by category and by precise HS code. This is general guidance, not customs advice; the number in the rate box is directional, so classify each SKU correctly and confirm the current rate for an exact figure.
MarginGuard watches every imported SKU and alerts you the moment a tariff change pushes one below your target margin — with the exact recovery price.
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