Today, High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson and business leaders from North Carolina’s legendary furniture industry slammed the reckless furniture tariffs that have sent costs soaring, threatened jobs, and hurt North Carolina’s iconic furniture industry, all backed by DC insider Michael Whatley.

As the trade war drives up costs, Whatley has called it “record setting in terms of […] effectiveness” and said he supports it “wholeheartedly.”

“The leadership of folks like Michael Whatley, who has encouraged these tariffs and said that he wholeheartedly stands behind them and finds them to be effective, is not the kind of leadership that we want,” said High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson. “As we see those rising costs, demand goes down, because consumers feel like they have choices to make. They’re competing with rising costs across the board.”

“When tariffs raise the cost of key materials, these costs work their way into our pricing. […] It creates challenges for manufacturers and for the customers we serve,” said Mark Phillips, Chairman of the Phillips Collection. “Who we elect matters. Vote for someone that will stand up to the tariffs that are driving up costs and hurting our businesses.”

“Tariffs have added steep, unexpected costs to our business. We’ve done everything we can to request our supply chain partners to absorb these increases, but the reality is that they’ve become too large to sustain and ultimately, we have passed cost increase flow to our consumers—raising prices, therefore reducing demand,” said Jeff Arditti, CEO of Aria Designs.

View a clip of Mayor Jefferson’s remarks here.

View a clip of Mark Phillips’ remarks here.

View a clip of Jeff Arditti’s remarks here. 

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