Key Takeaways
- One of the country’s largest holiday decor companies stated that tariffs are absolutely impacting business.
- National Tree Co. has risen prices by 10% this year, with tariffs adding $6-7 million in additional costs.
- It’s just the latest in a long line of businesses that are seeing the negative impact of tariffs in real time.
This holiday season could see prices rise in a lot of industries, including Christmas decor, with one of its biggest companies announcing that tariffs are having a serious impact on their bottom line.
It’s no secret that the tariff situation is tumultuous around the world in 2025. President Trump seems to be announcing new import taxes on a regular basis, and businesses that rely on the supply chain in any way are all being affected.
Holiday decor companies are no different, with the National Tree Co. stating that prices are likely going to rise on holiday decor this year, including Christmas trees.
Holiday Decor CEO: Tariffs Have Added Cost to Our Products
In an interview with FreightWaves, the CEO of National Tree Co. admitted that the tariffs are making it notably more difficult to do business. He noted, quite casually, that “it’s obviously been a very interesting year” as a result.
“The tariffs have affected us … they’ve added cost to our products. We’re trying to offset that with price increase … not all the way, but we’ve certainly looked along the value chain as to [whether] our suppliers absorb some of it? How much are we able to absorb? Then how much is the consumer able to absorb through price increases?” – Chris Butler, CEO of National Tree Co.
Given that the company is one of the largest manufacturers of artificial Christmas trees and other holiday decor in the US, it’s safe to assume that the holidays are definitely going to be a bit more expensive in 2025.
How Much Are Tariffs Adding to Holiday Decor Costs?
The holidays are already an expensive time for businesses and individuals around the world, which means that any additional costs are going to hit hard.
According to the CEO of National Tree Co., these costs are going to increase faster than inflation, with his company raising prices by 10% due to the additional $6 to $7 million in costs from tariffs.
Even worse, National Tree Co. is one of those companies with products across the supply chain, so if you’re ordering products from Amazon, Walmart, or Macy’s, for example, you are going to see these increased costs.
The Impact of Tariffs on the Economy
National Tree Co. obviously isn’t the only company that is taking a hit from tariffs. In fact, according to our monthly survey data, these import taxes are causing a large majority of businesses to completely change how they do business.
In August, 69% of businesses state that the Trump administration’s tariffs have caused a change to their company’s operations. On top of that, 39% of logistics professionals said that they are preparing for reduced freight demand as a result of tariff uncertainty, and 48% of businesses are preparing for increased vehicle and equipment costs as a result of tariffs.
Suffice to say, businesses are still waiting on the alleged benefits of tariffs that were promised by this administration. And if something doesn’t change before the holiday season, you could see a much bigger bill waiting for you under the Christmas tree this year.
