Retailers and consumers are bracing for an unusually strained holiday season—not because of gift shortages, but because Christmas trees, ornaments, lights, wrapping paper, and other décor are in short supply after tariffs and a springtime supply-chain freeze disrupted orders from China, which supplies up to 90% of US holiday goods. When steep tariffs of up to 125% were announced in April—peak ordering season for seasonal décor—many US importers halted purchases, leaving factories idle and missing the narrow production window, according to Warren Shoulberg of The Robin Report. Shoulberg writes:
Coming this holiday to a selling season near you, retailers and consumers alike have said they are worried about shortages and stock-outs in gifts that would be under the tree, hit by tariffs and the supply chain shutdown this past spring. But what they should be really worried about is the tree itself, MIA, a victim of those same economic and political forces. Ditto for the ornaments and other holiday paraphernalia that usually define the season for most Americans. And when shoppers do find these things, they will be paying substantially more this holiday season. It’s the quintessential coal in America’s collective Christmas stocking.
“The numbers are staggering: 85 to 90 percent of all artificial Christmas trees and holiday décor, including ornaments, come from China. Countries like Cambodia have become larger suppliers of holiday lights, but plenty still come from China. China is also responsible for some 40 percent of all the wrapping paper used in the world, a third of the cardboard used in packages and as much as 87 percent of all the tinsel. ” […]
“All factories, all retailers, all manufacturers stopped ordering, canceled orders … and the factories stopped producing,” said Chris Butler, chief executive of National Tree Company (who you’d think should know the situation), told the Washington Post. He said there was “basically a 30-day freeze,” referring to the April buying period after the first set of tariffs were announced. […]
So, while other consumer products had easier—relatively easier—times, navigating these tariff waters, it was no such luck for the Christmas guys. The mad dash to produce all those goods in time was on deadline. The numbers are staggering: 85 to 90 percent of all artificial Christmas trees and holiday décor, including ornaments, come from China. Countries like Cambodia have become larger suppliers of holiday lights, but plenty still come from China. China is also responsible for some 40 percent of all the wrapping paper used in the world, a third of the cardboard used in packages and as much as 87 percent of all the tinsel. Tinsel, for god’s sake; the holiday essential. […]
Cardboard boxes, perhaps the truest indicator of holiday shipments, dropped to their lowest third-quarter level since 2015, according to one report. Any further numbers are hard to come by at the moment, given the government shutdown and the lack of Census Bureau reporting.
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