In October last year, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) received a complaint about dumping of upholstered seats imported from China and Vietnam and launched an investigation for this. 

The complaint and the resulting tariffs have caused chaos in the Canadian furniture industry and interior design industry in recent weeks, because Canada will impose a maximum of 295.5% on leather upholstered seats made in China and a maximum of 101.5% on Vietnam. 

Originally, the tariffs that took effect on May 5 were for leather and fabric covered movable, reclining and home theater furniture (including sofa beds), but now more categories are affected, including swivel chairs and rocking chairs. 

In a more detailed report on the new policy released on May 20, CBSA stated that tariffs will be imposed on products with a wider range of upholstered seats than initially formulated, including all recliners with leather upholstery swivel chair or rocking chair.

"This is a far cry from the original concept, which originally only imposed tariffs on lounge chairs and larger lounge chairs like La-Z-Boy." said Andrew Metrick, CEO of Canadian furniture brand Elte. "Now, our products are seriously affected, alarge number of orders had to be cancelled, and even many leather furniture have been discontinued."

In late April, the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) announced plans to oppose tariffs. At that time, the tariff was estimated to be about 50%. It now appears that this is only a small part of the actual situation. RCC stated that it will "establish an alliance to represent and safeguard the interests of furniture retailers and importers."

Since the tariffs went into effect, the brands that filed the complaints have not publicly commented, nor have they commented on RCCs that are trying to overturn these terms.

Another problem with levying tariffs on furniture is that, in many cases, furniture made in Canada has no advantage over imported furniture.

"Canada does not have a huge furniture industry, nor does it have its own high-end exhibition." Canadian interior designer Heather Draper said. "If you only buy locally made furniture, you don't have much choice, and the quality is usually poor and the price is still high."

Metrick pointed out that at this time of the arrival of the new tariffs, it is precisely the global home furnishing industry facing supply chain problems and a large number of delays. Now, importers have to pay sky-high tariffs for orders that have already been shipped.

"Some companies will no longer exist because they cannot afford high tariffs," Metrick said. "For small companies without a team of lawyers, the impact will be huge."

Draper also felt that small businesses were being abandoned. "There are thousands of interior designers in this country. We need government support like those large companies." She said, "The Canadian government made decisions that affect thousands of small businesses for several companies. It’s crazy. But I think this is the new reality we need to face."