From 100-Year Legacies to 50% Tariffs. The Furniture Industry's Make-or-Break Moment

Originally published July 11, 2025. This version was rebuilt from a White House fact sheet, Bassett's SEC filing and the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.

The second week of July 2025 put a date on the next round of tariffs and showed, through one company's results, what adapting looks like.

The short version

• Letters to trading partners set new tariff rates from August 1.
• Bassett reported operating income of $2.5 million after a loss a year earlier.
• The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor showed furniture store sales down 1.04% in June.

August 1 deadline

The White House said letters to trading partners set new reciprocal rates effective August 1, ranging from 25% to 40% for the countries named in the first round. More letters followed during the week.

Update. A July 31 order set the final rates effective August 7.

Bassett adapts

Bassett Furniture reported fiscal second-quarter operating income of $2.5 million, compared with a loss of $8.5 million a year earlier that had included impairment and inventory charges. Revenue rose about 1%. Restructuring and cost cuts did most of the work.

June spending slips

The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor showed furniture and home furnishings store sales down 1.04% from May and 1.14% from a year earlier in June. NRF said tariff uncertainty was weighing on household budgets.

Make or break

Tariffs were set to rise again and shoppers were holding back. Companies that had already cut costs, like Bassett, had more room to absorb what came next.

Related on FIN

• Follow the Tariff Dollars
• Furniture Shoppers Are Holding Back

Sources

• The White House, Fact sheet on new tariff rates (July 7, 2025)
• The White House, Further modifying the reciprocal tariff rates (July 31, 2025)
• Bassett Furniture Industries, Fiscal second quarter 2025 results (SEC filing)
• National Retail Federation, CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, June 2025