Cabinets in the tariff crosshairs
A recent RBC analysis flags kitchen cabinets and vanities as among the product groups most exposed to recent tariff policy, noting the second Trump administration broadened tariff coverage to affect more than 70% of U.S. imports from Canada. That means cabinet costs are a category you should flag when estimating remodels or advising customers on whether to lock pricing now. (rbc.com)
Kitchen cabinets are one of the tariff stories hiding in plain sight. Royal Bank of Canada said cabinets and vanities sit near the top of the product groups most exposed as the Trump administration widened tariff coverage to more than 70% of total United States imports at its 2025 peak. (rbc.com) That matters because cabinets are not a tiny specialty import. They are a standard line item in kitchen remodels, apartment build-outs, and builder-grade home packages, so a tariff change can move thousands of dollars inside an ordinary renovation budget. (nkba.org) The policy path got confusing fast in March 2025. The White House first imposed 25% duties on many imports from Canada and Mexico on March 4, then changed course on March 6 so goods that qualify under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement could enter without those extra duties starting March 7. (whitehouse.gov) That exemption was broader than cars, even though the White House framed it around the auto supply chain. Trade lawyers at Polsinelli noted that the March 6 orders covered all imports eligible for United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement preference, not just vehicles and parts. (polsinelli.com) So the cabinet risk is not “all Canadian cabinets get hit the same way.” The real question is whether a specific cabinet shipment qualifies under United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement rules, because qualifying goods were exempted from the emergency Canada tariffs while non-qualifying goods still faced the added duty. (whitehouse.gov) (polsinelli.com) That is why two cabinet quotes can look similar on paper and land very differently in a customer’s budget. One supplier may be selling cabinets assembled in Canada with enough North American content to qualify, while another may be using imported components that push the shipment outside the free-trade rules. (whitehouse.gov) (polsinelli.com) The kitchen-and-bath industry was already feeling the squeeze before this week’s Royal Bank of Canada note. The National Kitchen and Bath Association said 28% of firms reported lower gross margins year over year in late 2025, the highest share since that survey began in 2022, with tariff-related material costs starting to show up in cabinet shops. (nkba.org) Home builders were seeing the same pattern in bigger projects. The National Association of Home Builders said in its April 2025 survey that builders estimated recent tariff actions were adding about $10,900 to a typical home, and more than 60% said they were already seeing higher costs. (nahb.org) There is a second layer here that makes cabinet pricing harder to predict than a simple 25% sticker shock. The United States government has also been reviewing wood products and later announced separate cabinet and vanity tariffs for 2025 and 2026, which means remodelers have to watch both country-based tariffs and product-specific tariffs at the same time. (nahb.org 1) (nahb.org 2) For anyone pricing a remodel in April 2026, the practical move is not to assume “Canadian” means safe or “imported” means doomed. The practical move is to ask the supplier for the country of origin, whether the cabinets qualify under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and how long the quote is locked before the next policy change rewrites the math. (rbc.com) (whitehouse.gov)
