Furniture Import Duties from China in 2026: What Each Type Pays

There is no single furniture tariff. In 2026, what a piece of furniture from China pays at US customs depends on what it is made of and what it is used for. An upholstered wooden sofa, a plain wooden chair, a metal table and a hotel nightstand each go through a different stack of duties.

This guide walks through each type of commercial furniture, with sources. Every rate below was checked against the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTSUS Revision 21, 2026) and the underlying proclamations and notices, verified October 15, 2026. Duties change often, and classification decides everything, so confirm your HTS line with a licensed customs broker before you order.

The duty layers on Chinese furniture

Most furniture from China starts at a normal (MFN) duty of zero. On top of that come the Section 301 China tariffs, then either the new 12.5% forced-labor tariff or a Section 232 duty, and, for some types, an anti-dumping order.

Layer	Rate as of October 2026	What it hits	Source
Normal (MFN) duty	Free for most furniture lines in headings 9401 and 9403	All furniture	HTSUS
Section 301, China Lists 1–4A	25% for most furniture (List 3); 7.5% for some children’s seats (List 4A)	Wooden, metal and plastic furniture and parts	HTSUS chapter 99, U.S. note 20; continued in October 2026
Section 301 forced-labor action	12.5%, since July 24, 2026	Most goods from China, except goods under Section 232	Federal Register; HTSUS heading 9903.05.31
Section 232 timber	25%	Upholstered wooden seats; kitchen cabinets and vanities	Proclamation, Sept. 29, 2025
Section 232 metals	25% or 50% of full value	Steel racks and boltless shelving; most other metal furniture was removed in April 2026	Proclamation, Apr. 2, 2026
Anti-dumping and countervailing (AD/CVD)	Case-specific	Wooden bedroom furniture, cabinets and vanities, mattresses, some aluminum parts	Commerce ACCESS and CBP

Two rules decide how the layers combine:

1. The 12.5% forced-labor duty does not apply to goods already under Section 232. The HTSUS lists the Section 232 timber headings (9903.76.01–.03) and the metals headings among the exemptions (chapter 99, U.S. note 52(f)). So an upholstered wooden chair pays Section 232 timber duty instead of the 12.5%.
2. Everything else stacks. The 12.5% is added to any Section 301 list duty (note 52(a)). Section 232 timber is added to Section 301 (note 37). AD/CVD duties come on top of all of it.

The IEEPA tariffs that hit 2025 shipments are gone: after the Supreme Court ruling of February 20, 2026, CBP stopped collecting them on February 24, and refunds are being processed. The temporary Section 122 tariff that followed expired when the forced-labor tariff began.

Upholstered wooden seating

Sofas, lounge chairs and upholstered chairs with wooden frames pay 25% Section 301 plus 25% Section 232 timber, and not the 12.5% forced-labor duty: 50% on top of a free MFN rate, as of October 2026.

The Section 232 timber duty covers four statistical lines, 9401.61.4011, .4031, .6011 and .6031, described as upholstered wooden furniture “such as couches, sofas and chairs” (HTSUS chapter 99, U.S. note 37(d)). It started on October 14, 2025. A rise to 30% was scheduled for January 1, 2026, then postponed to January 1, 2027, and it won’t apply to countries that reach an agreement with the US.

The market has noticed. US imports of upholstered wooden seats (HS 9401.61) from China fell 52% in 2025, from $1.82 billion to $878 million (UN Comtrade, US-reported data).

Whether a lightly padded chair counts as “upholstered” is a classification question with a 12.5-point swing. Settle it with your broker before you price the job.

Plain wooden seating

Wooden chairs and stools without upholstery (HTS 9401.69) pay 25% Section 301 plus the 12.5% forced-labor duty: 37.5% as of October 2026. Section 232 timber doesn’t cover them.

This is the counter-intuitive part of the 2026 stack: adding an upholstered seat to a wooden restaurant chair moves it from 37.5% to 50%. For a dining room with 120 chairs, that difference can decide between an upholstered seat and a wooden or loose-cushion one. Imports of other wooden seats (HS 9401.69) from China fell only 20% in 2025, against 52% for upholstered ones (UN Comtrade).

Metal furniture

Metal chairs, tables and office furniture pay 25% Section 301 plus 12.5%, so 37.5% as of October 2026. Since April 6, 2026, Section 232 metals duties no longer apply to most metal furniture.

The April 2026 metals proclamation moved seats with metal frames (9401.71 and 9401.79), metal office furniture (9403.10) and other metal furniture (9403.20) into Annex II, “removed from scope” of the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. The June 2026 update kept them there (Annex II, June 2026).

Two exceptions matter for commercial buyers. Steel racks (9403.20.0082) and boltless steel shelving (9403.20.0075) are listed as steel derivatives at 25% (HTSUS chapter 99, U.S. note 16), and both also carry anti-dumping orders. Store fixtures and back-of-house storage need their own check.

For metal-frame seats, the Section 301 lists split 9401.71 and 9401.79 at the 10-digit level: commercial lines are at 25%, while some children’s lines are at 7.5%. The list notes refer to statistical numbers that have been renumbered since 2018, so ask your broker which applies to your line.

Metal office furniture is one category that grew: imports of HS 9403.10 from China rose 29% in 2025 (UN Comtrade). See our office and school furniture page.

Wooden bedroom furniture and hotel casegoods

Wooden bedroom furniture from China is under an anti-dumping order (A-570-890) on top of 25% Section 301 and 12.5%. For a hotel, the real question is which guestroom pieces fall inside the order’s scope.

The order has been in force since January 2005 and was last continued in September 2022. The China-wide rate, which applies to exporters without their own rate, is 216.01% (Commerce, September 2025), verified October 15, 2026.

The scope names wooden headboards and night tables explicitly. It excludes seating, mattresses, office furniture such as desks and bookcases, dining furniture, and non-bedroom pieces such as TV cabinets and occasional tables. There is no exclusion for hotel or contract use. In a 2006 scope ruling for one importer (Tuohy Furniture), Commerce found bedside tables and headboards inside the order, and storage towers, TV stands and coffee tables outside it (Federal Register). A hotel guestroom package mixes both kinds of piece, so get a scope review for each item, not for the room as a whole.

Section 232 timber does not cover bedroom casegoods (only upholstered seats and cabinets and vanities), which is why the 12.5% applies here.

Kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities

Wooden kitchen cabinets and vanities pay 25% Section 301, 25% Section 232 timber and AD/CVD duties (A-570-106 / C-570-107), but not the 12.5%. The Section 232 rate is scheduled to rise to 50% on January 1, 2027.

The Section 232 duty covers 9403.40.9060 (kitchen cabinets), 9403.60.8093 (vanities) and 9403.91.0080 (parts), as of October 2026 (HTSUS chapter 99, U.S. note 37(f)). Other wooden furniture classified in those same lines that is not a cabinet or vanity goes under heading 9903.76.04 with no Section 232 duty.

The AD/CVD orders date from April 2020 and were continued in September 2025. Commerce’s 2024 determination gives a China-wide AD cash-deposit rate of 251.64% and a CVD rate of 20.93% for other exporters (Federal Register, July 2024), verified October 15, 2026. Your exporter may have its own rate, so check it in ACCESS.

The same determination found that cabinets finished in Malaysia or Vietnam from Chinese components are covered by the China orders, with importer and exporter certifications required. Moving the last assembly step out of China does not get a cabinet out of the order.

For most hotel and multifamily projects, the combined stack makes Chinese casework uneconomic. We cover this in What not to import from China.

Outdoor aluminum furniture

Aluminum patio chairs, loungers and tables usually pay 25% Section 301 plus 12.5%, with no Section 232 metals duty since April 2026. The open question is the aluminum extrusions AD/CVD order.

The aluminum extrusions orders (A-570-967 / C-570-968, continued in 2022) cover extrusions, including extrusions described as parts for furniture assembled after import. The scope excludes finished merchandise “fully and permanently assembled and completed at the time of entry”, and finished-goods kits that contain all the parts needed to assemble the final product.

In practice, a fully assembled chair is the clearer case. Knock-down frames, loose extruded parts, or kits that need extra parts sourced in the US are where scope questions start. We didn’t find a published scope ruling on outdoor furniture frames, so treat this as a question for your broker or for a Commerce scope ruling, not as settled.

Two more points for outdoor programs. Aluminum has been a UFLPA high-priority sector since 2024, so expect questions about where the metal came from. And cushions intended solely for outdoor use are exempt from the federal upholstered-furniture flammability standard (CPSC).

Which duty mechanisms to check, by furniture type

This is a checklist of what to ask about, not a rate card. Rates are as of October 2026; the AD/CVD column lists orders to check, not a finding that your product is in scope.

Furniture type	Typical HTS	Section 301	12.5% forced-labor	Section 232	AD/CVD order to check
Upholstered wooden seating (sofas, lounge, upholstered dining chairs)	9401.61	25%	No	Timber, 25% (30% from Jan 2027)	None specific to seating
Plain wooden chairs and stools	9401.69	25%	Yes	No	None specific to seating
Metal-frame seats, upholstered or not	9401.71, 9401.79	25% (some children’s lines 7.5%)	Yes	Removed April 2026	Aluminum extrusions, if shipped as frames or kits
Metal tables and office furniture	9403.10, 9403.20	25%	Yes	Removed, except steel racks and boltless shelving (25%)	Steel racks; boltless shelving
Wooden bedroom furniture, hotel casegoods	9403.50	25%	Yes	No	Wooden bedroom furniture (A-570-890)
Other wooden furniture (dining tables, desks, consoles)	9403.30, 9403.40, 9403.60	25%	Yes	No, unless a cabinet or vanity	Bedroom scope for bedroom-type pieces
Kitchen cabinets and vanities	9403.40.9060, 9403.60.8093, 9403.91.0080	25%	No	Timber, 25% (50% from Jan 2027)	Cabinets and vanities (A-570-106 / C-570-107)
Outdoor aluminum furniture	9401.79, 9403.20	25%	Yes	Removed April 2026	Aluminum extrusions (A-570-967 / C-570-968)
Plastic seats and furniture	9401.80, 9403.70	25%	Yes	No	None specific
Mattresses	9404.21, 9404.29	25%	Yes	No	Mattresses (A-570-092)

US compliance rules for imported furniture

Duties are only half of it. Upholstered seating needs a flammability label, anything with MDF or particleboard needs TSCA Title VI paperwork, and wooden furniture needs a Lacey Act declaration. This is a summary of what is commonly required, not legal advice.

Upholstered furniture flammability: 16 CFR 1640 (TB117-2013)

Since June 25, 2021, upholstered furniture made or imported for the US must meet 16 CFR part 1640, which adopts California’s TB117-2013 smolder test. The definition covers seating “intended for indoor use” with an upholstered seat, back or arm, and it is not written as limited to home furniture, so plan on it for hotel and restaurant seating too. Mattresses, foundations, bedding and fitness-only furniture are excluded. Since June 25, 2022, each piece needs a permanent label stating “Complies with U.S. CPSC requirements for upholstered furniture flammability”; hangtags don’t count (CPSC FAQ).

Hotels, restaurants and offices often face more than the federal minimum: project specs and local fire codes may call for additional tests. Ask your specifier or the local authority having jurisdiction early, because the test changes the foam and fabric you order.

Formaldehyde: TSCA Title VI

Composite wood (hardwood plywood, MDF, particleboard) in furniture must be certified by an EPA-recognized third-party certifier. Finished goods need a label with the fabricator’s name, the month and year made, and a TSCA Title VI compliance statement, and importers must sign an import certification for each shipment (EPA; EPA importer guide). Keep the supplier’s compliance statements: EPA expects three years of records.

Lacey Act declarations

Since Phase VII began on December 1, 2024, furniture in the covered HTS codes needs a Lacey Act import declaration, which names the genus and species of each wood and the country where it was harvested. Since January 1, 2026, APHIS no longer accepts the paper PPQ 505 form; the declaration goes through CBP’s ACE (usually filed by your broker) or APHIS’s LAWGS portal (APHIS). Factories often don’t know the species of their board stock, so ask for it at quotation, not at shipping.

How to get a firm number before you order

Classify each item, check every AD/CVD scope, and price the stack before you sign. For a large or repeat order, a binding ruling from CBP fixes the classification in writing.

• Write the material into the spec. “Upholstered seat on wooden frame” and “metal frame with wooden arms” land in different lines and different stacks.
• Ask for a scope check on anything that looks like bedroom furniture, cabinets or aluminum frames. A broker can tell you if a Commerce scope ruling already covers it.
• Run the numbers. Our landed cost calculator shows duty, freight and fees side by side.

When you buy through Beato, we check anti-dumping exposure before we quote, and we can act as importer of record with our partner customs broker. Our price lock covers factory, freight and exchange-rate changes, but not government duty changes or changes you request, so a duty that moves between quote and entry is passed through. For the wider tariff picture, see our China tariffs 2026 and anti-dumping duties guides, and our hotel FF&E guide.

Key takeaways

• Most Chinese furniture starts at a free MFN rate, then pays 25% Section 301 and either the 12.5% forced-labor duty or Section 232 timber (as of October 2026).
• As of October 2026, upholstered wooden seating pays 50% (25% + 25% Section 232); plain wooden and metal furniture pays 37.5% (25% + 12.5%).
• Section 232 metals duties were lifted from most metal furniture on April 6, 2026; steel racks and boltless shelving are covered at 25%.
• Wooden bedroom furniture, cabinets and vanities, and mattresses carry anti-dumping orders; for hotel casegoods, check scope piece by piece.
• Cabinets and vanities face a scheduled jump to 50% Section 232 on January 1, 2027.
• Plan for 16 CFR 1640 labels, TSCA Title VI certification and electronic Lacey Act declarations from the start.