Policy Pressure Meets Soft Furniture Demand

Originally published February 13, 2026. This version was rebuilt from Federal Register, Leggett & Platt and NAR releases for the FIN archive, and the facts are as of that date.

Mid-February put policy and demand side by side. Trade enforcement was reaching deeper into bedding, while the housing data that drives furniture demand took a step back.

The short version

• Commerce opened inquiries into whether mattresses from Malaysia, Mexico and Poland were evading existing antidumping duties.
• Leggett & Platt's sales fell in 2025.
• Pending home sales dropped sharply in December after a strong November.

Mattress imports under scrutiny

The Commerce Department opened circumvention inquiries into mattresses from Malaysia, Mexico and Poland, covering components exported from those countries and finished in the US. The question was whether they were being used to get around antidumping orders already in place.

For importers and private label buyers it was a reminder to keep sourcing paperwork tight, since duties found to apply can reach back to earlier entries.

Update. The Poland inquiry was rescinded in June 2026 after the request was withdrawn.

Leggett & Platt shrinks

Leggett & Platt reported 2025 sales of $4.05 billion, down 7%, and fourth-quarter sales of $939 million. Volume fell, mostly from weak demand in residential end markets, and divestitures also cut sales.

Leggett supplies springs and components across bedding and furniture, so its volume is a useful read on what manufacturers were actually building.

Home contracts pull back

NAR's pending home sales index fell 9.3% in December and was 3.0% below a year earlier, with every region declining.

After November's jump, the drop was a warning that the housing turn would be uneven, and so would move-in furniture demand.

Under pressure

Policy was adding compliance risk at the same time that demand signals were softening. Manufacturers and importers had little room for surprises.

Related on FIN

• Follow the Tariff Dollars
• Move-In Furniture Tickets Are Drying Up

Sources

• Federal Register, Mattresses From Malaysia. Initiation of Circumvention Inquiry
• Federal Register, Mattresses From Poland. Rescission of Circumvention Inquiry (June 2026)
• Leggett & Platt, Fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (SEC exhibit 99.1)
• National Association of Realtors, Pending home sales report for December 2025