In recent news from December 5, 2025, the supply chain director of the Swedish furniture group IKEA has stated that due to President Trump’s tariffs, the costs of imported products such as bookcases, mattresses, and sofas have increased. As a response, IKEA is planning to increase its procurement from within the United States.
This marks a significant shift for IKEA. Over the past decade, the proportion of goods produced domestically in the United States by IKEA has been steadily decreasing. The brand’s franchise owner, Inter IKEA, previously had a factory in Danville, Virginia, which was closed in 2019 and production was moved back to Europe.
IKEA has revealed that the group is working towards “local sourcing” in order to support its expansion in the United States (its second-largest market) and beyond. Currently, IKEA has stores in Canada, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, with plans to open stores in Costa Rica and Panama.
Susanne Waidzunas, the global supply manager at Inter IKEA, stated in an interview with Reuters, “We are designing a more resilient, robust, and agile supply chain network.”
She added that the company’s stores in North and South America heavily rely on furniture shipped from other locations, resulting in long delivery times.
She explained, “The closer our production facilities are to us, from a supply perspective, regardless of whether demand increases or decreases, we can react more swiftly.”
Waidzunas mentioned that the plan to produce near consumers in the United States had been initiated before the tariff increase this year and is part of a global initiative.
However, the timing now proves advantageous for IKEA. While IKEA has prided itself on offering low prices, in order to counter the impact of tariffs, it has been forced to raise prices on certain products in the US market. But to attract consumers feeling the pressure of inflation, IKEA has further increased discounts, resulting in consecutive years of declining sales.
IKEA’s Lithuanian supplier, SBA Home, is expanding its first factory in Mocksville, North Carolina in the United States, with a $70 million investment, partly supported by Inter IKEA. This factory will produce popular products like the KALLAX shelving units for IKEA.
Jurgita Radzevice, the CEO of SBA Home, mentioned that the highly automated factory’s production capacity is steadily increasing, with projections to produce 2 million pieces of furniture annually.
IKEA’s reliance on imports in the United States is higher than in other markets.
Currently, only 15% of IKEA products sold in US stores are manufactured domestically, down from 19% in 2014. In Europe, 70% of IKEA’s sales products are locally produced, and in Asia, this figure is 80%. Its main sourcing countries include China, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, and Poland.
Waidzunas pointed out that the costs of production in the United States are higher, but transporting products internationally has become more expensive and unpredictable compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
She stated that IKEA plans to source more products from existing US suppliers, including Sauder Woodworking in Ohio, and is also seeking new suppliers, particularly those capable of supplying large volume goods. One of the goals is to domestically produce most mattresses for the US market.
(This article referenced relevant reports from Reuters)