Yes — two separate trade actions over the past year have raised the cost of commercial millwork, and if you’ve priced a buildout recently and the numbers looked different than they did a year ago, this is why. Together, these two actions are changing what it costs to build custom cabinetry, casework, and architectural millwork in 2026.
For general contractors, architects, and retail or hospitality brands planning a buildout, understanding what’s actually driving these changes — and where the exposure is greatest — makes it a lot easier to plan a budget that holds up.
Two Tariff Actions, Not One
It’s easy to lump “tariffs” together as one story, but there are two distinct actions worth knowing apart, because they hit different parts of a project.
Finished cabinetry and vanities. In September 2025, a Section 232 proclamation placed a 10% tariff on imported softwood lumber and a 25% tariff on imported kitchen cabinets and vanities, effective October 14, 2025. A scheduled increase to 50% on cabinets and vanities was set to take effect January 1, 2026 — but a follow-up proclamation delayed that increase by a full year. As of now, imported cabinets and vanities remain at 25% through the end of 2026, with the jump to 50% pushed to January 1, 2027.
Raw hardwood plywood. Separately, the U.S. International Trade Commission finalized antidumping and countervailing duty determinations on hardwood and decorative plywood imported from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam on August 19, 2026. The Commission found the domestic plywood industry was materially injured by underpriced imports, with preliminary dumping margins as high as 187% on Chinese plywood and elevated duties on Indonesian and Vietnamese product as well.
The difference matters: one action taxes finished, imported cabinetry and casework. The other raises the cost of a core raw material used by every fabricator, foreign or domestic, working in hardwood plywood.
What This Means for a Project Budget
Put together, these two actions are pushing costs up from two directions at once:
- Material costs are rising industry-wide. Whether you build domestically or import, plywood is more expensive than it was a year ago, and mill closures tied to years of underpriced imports mean less buffer capacity to absorb demand spikes.
- Imported finished millwork carries an additional, direct cost. A 25% tariff on imported cabinets and vanities is a real line item for anyone sourcing finished casework from overseas rather than having it built here.
- Fixed-price contracts are getting caught off guard. Material costs shifting mid-project put pressure on contracts signed before a price swing. It’s becoming more common for general contractors to build price escalation clauses — tied to a benchmark like the Producer Price Index — into contracts to protect margins against this kind of volatility.
Why This Is a Good Moment to Ask Where Your Millwork Comes From
The tariff on imported cabinets and vanities doesn’t apply to millwork designed, fabricated, and installed domestically.
American Millwork Solutions designs, fabricates, and installs custom commercial millwork in-house, working directly with architects and general contractors on projects for retail, hospitality, and institutional clients across the country. Rising material costs are something every fabricator is navigating this year, but for projects sourcing finished cabinetry or casework from overseas, the current tariff adds a cost that domestically built millwork simply doesn’t carry.
A note on timing: Trade policy in this space has moved quickly over the past year — proclamations, delayed effective dates, and finalized duty determinations have landed every few months since late 2025. The rates and dates above are accurate around the date of publication.
If you’re planning a project and want to understand how current material and tariff conditions might affect your timeline or budget, get in touch — we’re happy to walk through it before you’re locked into a quote.
