The Trump tariffs have sweeping implications for the American design and furniture industry, which ultimately affects what we put in our homes For the past eight years, San Francisco-based furniture designer Ted Boerner?s Thicket coffee table has been a reliable seller and a foundation for his livelihood. Inspired by Northern California?s redwood forests, it has modern lines, an oval glass top, and a base made of richly patinaed steel. Come March of this year, the perennial piece?s future was suddenly in jeopardy.
The Trump administration?s announcement, on March 1, of proposed steel and aluminum tariffs caused steel prices to rise and supply to shrink?destabilizing the market via a hint of uncertainty, but no actual implementation.
Ted Boerner
Ted Boerner redesigned his popular Thicket table due to the rising cost of metals.

Boerner?s Los Angeles fabricator had to start sourcing raw material from a new source. There was no guarantee that the metal would receive its patinated finish, as it had in the past?since electroplating involves precise chemistry, and the exact composition of steel affects the results?and Boerner, whose three-person studio makes pieces to order for high-end clients and retailers like Design Within Reach, couldn?t gamble on quality or consistency. In order to make it work, he had to redesign the piece, invest in more product development, find new fabricators, and switch to powder coating, since it?s a ?more forgiving...