A flood of unfairly traded foreign cabinet imports is destroying thousands of jobs in America’s cabinet industry. It’s taking jobs from the working American man and woman. With 250,000 American jobs on the line, if our great President Donald J. Trump doesn’t impose a 60% tariff to stop the cheating, our jobs will be soon wiped out.
- Jimmy Lee, Engineering Department at Wellborn Cabinet Inc.
Protecting American Jobs. Defending American Craftsmanship.
For generations, American families and skilled workers have built a strong, proud cabinetmaking industry – one rooted in quality, craftsmanship, and community. Today, the U.S. kitchen cabinet industry supports more than 250,000 American jobs, with 95% of manufacturers being family-owned businesses deeply connected to small towns and underserved communities across the nation.
The U.S. domestic timber and lumber industries, including downstream products like wooden cabinetry are essential to U.S. infrastructure, military readiness and supply chain resilience which is critically important for U.S. national and economic security.
Foreign producers especially Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, and China receive extensive government subsidies unlike U.S. producers. These foreign countries are now FLOODING the U.S. market with illegally subsidized cabinets sold at prices up to 60% – 70% below fair market value.
In April 2020, the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission found that the domestic kitchen cabinet industry had been materially injured as a result of dumped and subsidized cabinets from China. The combined antidumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) duties on China helped in the short term. ·
Unfortunately, these gains were short lived with foreign countries such as Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand now engaging in the transshipment of Chinese goods which is destroying the domestic cabinet market.
As a result of the surge of cabinet imports, the domestic cabinet industry has experienced plant closures with thousands of jobs lost in Alabama, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New, Jersey, Kansas, Texas, Virginia and most recently three plants in North Carolina. These jobs lost have led to communities across America’s heartland being destroyed by these predatory trade practices that seek to do America harm.
Over the last 5 years these foreign imports resulted in an estimated $6.5 billion in lost revenue to the cabinet industry, which killed thousands of American manufacturing jobs.
With a flood of imports of timber, lumber and derivative products such as cabinetry being dumped into the United States by foreign countries, President Donald J. Trump launched a Section 232 investigation on 1st March 2025 to help save domestic cabinet manufacturing from foreign countries that cheat. This investigation recognizes that wooden cabinetry is vital to U.S. infrastructure, housing, and national security – and that the industry must be protected from foreign cheating.
To save 250,00 American cabinet jobs, we are calling for an America First trade policy to stop the cheating and level the playing field. To save the domestic cabinet industry, we are respectfully asking President Trumo to do the following:
- No exclusions or exemptions granted for any wooden kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and component parts thereof within the current Section 232 investigation on timber, lumber, and derivative products
- Implementing Broader and Higher U.S. Tariffs – A tariff rate greater than 60% should be imposed on wooden kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and component parts thereof imports from all countries. Such a measure would help neutralize the price advantages that foreign producers gain through subsidies and dumping and closes any loopholes or circumvention opportunities.
- Strengthening Trade Measures – The U.S. should enforce stricter regulations to prevent duty evasion and circumvention tactics. This could include imposing minimum valuation requirements to prevent foreign producers from underreporting product values to evade new tariff rates.
- Enhancing Monitoring and Enforcement – The Department of Commerce, U.S. Justice Department, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection should increase scrutiny of import data and respond quickly to U.S. industry on illegal trade practices.
The U.S. cabinet industry is unlike other U.S. industries, we have sufficient production capacity to ramp up domestic cabinet production very quickly if a Section 232 tariff of 60% or greater is implemented. If the Trump Administration takes strong decisive action with the Section 232 tariffs, we will unleash a Golden Age for domestic cabinet manufacturing.
