President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs on Sept. 25, focusing on specific goods like kitchen cabinets and furniture.

"We will be imposing a 50% Tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities, and associated products, starting October 1st, 2025. Additionally, we will be charging a 30% Tariff on Upholstered Furniture," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

In the same series of posts, he announced a 25% tariff on all "Heavy (Big!) Trucks!" imports and a 100% tariff on brand-name drugs.

Trump's sweeping tariffs against countries around the world could be at legal risk due to a case headed to the Supreme Court. Reuters reported these new actions could be part of the Trump administration's shift to better-established legal authority.

Why did Trump put tariffs on cabinets?

Trump said in his Truth Social post the reason for the cabinet, vanity and furniture tariffs is "the large scale 'FLOODING' of these products into the United States by other outside Countries. It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for National Security and other reasons, our Manufacturing process. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Trump teased the focus on furniture in August in a Truth Social post, saying he would run a "major tariff investigation."

"This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union," he wrote on Aug. 22.

Jobs for furniture and wood product manufacturing have been cut in half since 2000, Reuters reported, and the U.S. imported about $25.5 billion in furniture in 2024, with more than half of those imports coming from Vietnam and China.

Some furniture executives worry about rising prices and the lack of domestic manufacturing capacity.

Ramping up manufacturing in the U.S. "would require years of investments in building the facilities and workforce that most in this industry cannot afford to make," RH RH.N, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, CEO Gary Friedman said, according to Reuters.

What are tariffs?

A tariff is a form of tax imposed on imports from another country.

Tariffs can create more demand for domestic manufacturers, but those companies are also part of the global supply chain and therefore also impacted by tariffs, experts have previously explained to USA TODAY.

Trump has frequently used tariffs as part of foreign policy negotiations in his second term, but many of them were reduced or delayed.

In November, the highest court will hear arguments for an appeal of a lower court's decision that Trump overreached when he invoked a 1977 law to impose tariffs on imports from most countries. If the Supreme Court rules against Trump, the administration may need to issue refunds on revenue collected from approximately half of the tariffs.

Contributing: Rachel Barber, USA TODAY; Reuters

Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Trump imposing tariffs on cabinets? Here is what we know

Reporting by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect