Trump: Tariffs will return furniture industry boom days to North Carolina

FILE PHOTO: President Donald J. Trump boards Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, March 23, 2026, en route Memphis, Tennessee. (White House photo by Molly Riley)

(The Center Square) – Since the first Southern Furniture Market in 1909, High Point in the Triad of North Carolina has long been recognized as the Furniture Capital of the World.

Until China invaded. Even the renowned hotelier Trump did business with them.

Through tariffs, second-term Republican President Donald Trump said in this National Small Business Week 2026, “We're going to bring all the furniture back to North Carolina, and you're going to see it'll be as robust as it was 25, 30 years ago.”

Speaking Monday in the East Room of the White House, the 79-year-old gave his explanation for what he encountered as a private businessman and what he’s hopeful to do now leading from the Oval Office.

“We used to have a great furniture business,” Trump said. “I built a lot of hotels and a lot of different buildings where I need furniture. I would go to North Carolina. These were great artists. And China essentially put them out of business because we never – we didn't have a president that was willing to do it.

“I used to go down there and see these people were – they were artists with wood. I'd say, ‘I'd like to make the handle a little bit slimmer.’ Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. It's like – it was like magic. And we lost that whole thing. You can say it's coming back because we're putting tariffs on furniture where you'll be able to more than compete. We have to protect our businesses.”

High Point’s show is billed as the world’s largest for home furnishings. It has grown – the city’s spot on the railroads of the 1880s was key to its origin – from a 10-story building to 11.5 million square feet, more than 2,000 exhibitors and attracting more than 160,000 to biannual shows in April and October.

“We're going to bring all the furniture back to North Carolina, and you're going to see it'll be as robust as it was 25, 30 years ago,” Trump said. “The greatest furniture people in the world. And they got stolen.

“And you watch what happens – how good it is in North Carolina, because I've been – I've had to go through a process to get that approved, but now it's approved. And you're going to be, again, the Furniture Capital of the World, because nobody can do that quality. And I know the quality.

“You know, when I was in the hotel business, I was forced to buy from China because of pricing – because of pricing and because of – for other reasons. What I wasn't getting was the kind of quality that we were getting here. And now you'll have a combination of both.”