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Press Releases / At High Point, SFC Marks 20 Years

At High Point, SFC Marks 20 Years

  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

Cascale and the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) will celebrate two decades of industry leadership and the next chapter of home furnishings sustainability at High Point Market.

Bright cozy living room with light beige sofa, rustic wooden coffee table and sunlight streaming through window. Home interior design in scandinavian style with warm tones and natural materials.
October 01, 2026

Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – October 1, 2026: The Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) will mark its 20th anniversary at High Point Market with a special celebration on October 16, bringing together the people and companies that shaped two decades of sustainability leadership in the home furnishings industry.

Hosted by SFC and Cascale, the global nonprofit industry alliance where consumer goods organizations turn shared sustainability ambitions into measurable progress at scale, the invitation-only event will honor SFC’s founding members, longtime member companies, board leaders, staff, and industry partners while looking ahead to the next chapter of its work. In 2025, Cascale acquired key assets of SFC, bringing its home furnishings sustainability resources and expertise into a global community of more than 300 consumer goods organizations.

Key Takeaways

  • SFC celebrates 20 years of impact: The Sustainable Furnishings Council will mark two decades of advancing sustainability in the home furnishings industry at High Point Market, where the organization began.
  • SFC’s legacy moves to a global platform: Following Cascale’s 2025 acquisition of key SFC assets, its resources and expertise are now connected to Cascale’s global community of more than 300 consumer goods organizations.
  • A new chapter for home furnishings sustainability: Cascale is expanding opportunities for manufacturers, brands, retailers, designers, and other stakeholders to collaborate on climate, materials, chemistry, supply chains, and workers’ rights.
  • Celebrating the people behind the progress: The invitation-only event will honor SFC’s Founding Members, longtime members, leaders, staff, and partners whose collective efforts shaped two decades of industry action.

“This milestone gives us an opportunity to recognize the people who had the vision to bring the home furnishings industry together around sustainability 20 years ago, as well as the members and partners who carried that work forward,” said Ying McGuire, chief executive officer, Cascale, who will attend the event. “As that legacy moves into a global community, we can build on what SFC created while connecting the home furnishings industry to broader collaboration on climate, materials, chemistry, supply chains, and workers’ rights.”

“This anniversary is deeply meaningful because it is a chance to celebrate the people who believed in this work from the very beginning and the community that kept it moving forward,” said Scarlette Tapp, executive director, SFC, Cascale. “SFC was built on the power of bringing people together around a shared purpose. As we enter this next chapter with Cascale, that same spirit of collaboration can reach further, connecting the home furnishings industry to new partners, resources, and opportunities to turn its sustainability ambitions into action.”

“Twenty years is a remarkable milestone, but what matters most is what those 20 years have made possible: a community that continues to challenge the industry to think differently and act with greater purpose,” said Michela O’Connor Abrams, board chair, Sustainable Furnishings Council and Sustainable Furnishings Educational Fund, and founder, MOCA+. “SFC created a space for people across the home furnishings value chain to come together, share ideas, and turn a shared vision into progress. As this work moves forward with Cascale, I’m excited to see that spirit of collaboration reach a broader global community and help shape what comes next.”

From Industry Coalition to Global Community

Founded in 2006, SFC brought furniture manufacturers, retailers, designers, and advocates together around a shared belief that the home furnishings industry could be a force for environmental good. Over the past two decades, the organization helped bring issues including responsible wood sourcing, sustainable materials, transparency, and supply chain practices into greater focus across the industry.

Through its integration with Cascale, SFC’s work now connects to a global network working to advance sustainability across consumer goods value chains. Cascale supports home furnishings companies at different stages of their sustainability journeys through sector-specific resources, pre-competitive collaboration, and tools that help organizations measure performance and identify opportunities for progress.

SFC-derived resources, including the Wood Furniture Scorecard, continue to provide practical support for responsible sourcing. The Scorecard has encouraged furniture retailers to strengthen their wood sourcing policies since 2018, helping advance greater accountability around deforestation risk, biodiversity, and responsible materials.

Cascale’s home furnishings work also strengthens connections among designers, manufacturers, brands, retailers, and other stakeholders, supporting more transparent and responsible supply chains, stronger buyer-supplier relationships, and collaborative approaches to industry challenges.

Media Contact: Forster Communications, cascaleforster@forster.co.uk

Blogs / Wood Furniture Scorecard 2026 Shows Forest as Foundation

Wood Furniture Scorecard 2026 Shows Forest as Foundation

  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

Exploring the foundational role that certified and reclaimed wood sourcing plays in reducing deforestation risk.

An aerial view at sunset of a forest
Angie Kenny, Manager, SFC
Angie Kenny
June 17, 2026

We see it in the heartbeat of the Amazon Rainforest, forest health is foundational.

With many parts of the Amazon Rainforest being designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites and as one of the world’s largest carbon sinks – storing up to 150 billion metric tons of carbon in its vegetation and soil – it’s clear that forests like these are essential to the earth’s balance. Interestingly, the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) began 20 years ago when artisan furniture makers in Peru were led to start thinking about how they were sourcing wood in and around the Amazon Rainforest for the U.S. and other markets.

Forests are inextricably linked to human health. They provide natural resources that help enhance people’s health and livelihoods. They also filter air, regulate water cycles, and help mitigate the hazardous effects of climate change through carbon sequestration.

Industries like fashion, home furnishings, and all consumer goods have a role to play in preserving the health of these forests, often called “the lungs of the Earth.”

And with that, designers, procurers, and buyers have a responsibility to ensure their materials are justly sourced. Responsible wood sourcing is foundational to climate action and biodiversity protection. Consistent use of certified and reclaimed wood remains one of the most effective strategies to reduce deforestation risk, protect biodiversity, and improve sustainability performance.

Starting this year, the Wood Furniture Scorecard comes under Cascale’s wing, supporting the organization’s two pillars of combatting climate change and supporting decent work for all. Cascale, with support from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), offers the scorecard as a foundation for adopting and implementing responsible wood sourcing policies to prevent deforestation. As with previous years, this collaborative report utilizes publicly-available information and direct brand engagement. Although administered by Cascale, it is distinct from Cascale and does not reflect a brand’s membership commitments.

As this scorecard continues to reveal, responsible wood sourcing is not only an ongoing commitment but a strong indicator of industry stewardship. We are excited about the direction the scorecard is taking, the growing visibility around it, and the contributions thus made. In ways small and large, certified and reclaimed wood can be known as not just a necessary sourcing consideration but a foundational pillar of a more responsible and sustainable home furnishings industry.

Read About Cascale's SFC
News Updates / High Point Spring Market Emphasizes Sustainable Materials Procurement

High Point Spring Market Emphasizes Sustainable Materials Procurement

  • Industry Event
  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

At High Point Market, Cascale’s Angie Kenny moderates a panel highlighting sustainable furnishing materials.

Angie Kenny on stage at High Point Market 2026
May 12, 2026

Recently, Cascale staff, Scarlette Tapp and Angie Kenny, represented the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) at the Spring High Point Market in High Point, N.C., in April.

Twenty-five SFC members exhibited at the market, among them Rowe Furniture, Copeland Furniture, Gat Creek, Currey & Company, Home Trends & Design, Lee Industries, Norwalk Furniture, Vanguard Furniture, Simply Amish, and Arteriors. The brands’ showrooms were spread across the furniture market district.

As one of the world’s largest furniture industry events, High Point Market features 11.5 million square feet of showrooms, expert-led tours, and trend spotting, and is open to trade professionals with a focus on networking and product launches.

A highlight of Cascale’s participation was an industry seminar, organized by ANDMORE, titled “Designing for Impact: Procuring Materials that Shape a Sustainable Future.” Moderated by Cascale manager of SFC Angie Kenny, the session featured guest speakers Rico Ruffino, assistant professor in the Department of Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University, and Jerri Hobdy, award-winning furniture and lighting designer at Meno Home. The conversation explored how material choices in furnishings and interiors directly influence both human and environmental health, and offered practical strategies for reducing toxins and selecting more climate-friendly materials — with a focus on what designers and retailers should consider when shopping the market. Attendees included interior designers, product designers, and industry leaders.

Curious to explore Cascale membership? Get in touch.
Blogs / What Earth Month Asks of Us Now

What Earth Month Asks of Us Now

  • Earth Month
  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

Rick Ridgeway reflects on a momentous year for Cascale, after taking Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) under its wing.

Rick Ridgeway on stage at the Cascale Annual Meeting 2024
Headshot of Rick Ridgeway
Rick Ridgeway
April 28, 2026

I’ve been thinking about how Cascale began.

It started with a question from two fed-up sustainability outcasts at major companies.

How do we take responsibility for the impact we’re having in this industry?

For some of us, that question first showed up decades ago, in factories, in boardrooms, in places where the connection between business and the natural world was impossible to ignore. It wasn’t always clear what to do next. But it was clear that doing nothing was no longer an option.

That realization brought people together, and from it came the Higg Index as a way to unify the tides, yes – but still a myriad of other possibilities.

The Cascale today is a bridge of different companies, different roles, even different industries (with the acquisition of Sustainable Furnishings Council key assets signaling an expanding mission).

Why This Moment Feels Familiar

Now, as I look at the home furnishings sector, I see something familiar. There are a different set of materials and acronyms but many of the same challenges.

There’s the same complexity, nuance, and fragmentation. As with fast fashion, so with fast furniture. It’s an insane pressure crunch to move with lightning speed, while still promising the world a greater sense of transparency and accountability.

And yet, I revisit the same underlying question: how do we do this in a way that actually works?

Because we can’t afford to let another rotation go by without diving deeper. Through my engagement with Cascale, I still believe the answer is not going to come from any one organization or sector. It’s going to come from working together.

Extending the Work

The collaboration between Cascale and the Sustainable Furnishings Council is part of that next step. Not an attempt to replicate what’s been done before, but to build on it.

To take what we’ve learned and apply it in new contexts. To recognize that while every supply chain is different, the need for alignment, credible data, and shared responsibility is the same. This is how progress scales.

By creating a common foundation, we make it easier for companies to understand their impact, to act on it, and to improve over time. And by doing it together, we move faster than we would on our own.

What Earth Month Reminds Us

Earth Month has always been a moment to step back and reflect. But reflection only matters if it leads to action. The challenges we’re facing today — climate change, resource constraints, the need for decent work — are not new. What’s changed is the urgency. And, in many ways, the opportunity.

The work is far from finished. If anything, it’s just beginning again, in new sectors, with new partners, and with a clearer understanding of what it takes to make real progress.

For home furnishings, greening supply chains will require the same things that got us here: honesty about where we are, alignment on where we need to go, and a willingness to work together to get there.

That’s what Earth Month asks of us. Not perfection. Not quick wins. But commitment. And the understanding that the only way forward is together.

News Updates / Home Furnishings Sector Convenes for 36th Annual ARTS Awards 2026

Home Furnishings Sector Convenes for 36th Annual ARTS Awards 2026

  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

Home furnishings leaders, Cascale attended the 2026 ARTS Awards in Dallas. As the premier furniture showcase, the gala brought together many Sustainable Furnishings Council members.

January 20, 2026

Furniture manufacturers, retailers, and designers convened in Dallas earlier this month for the 36th Annual ARTS Awards.

The annual event is the premier international showcase for home furnishings design, retail, and manufacturing success.

Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC), the assets of which Cascale acquired in 2025, was also in attendance, including SFC board chair and MOCA+ founder Michela O’Connor Abrams, along with SFC executive director Scarlette Tapp.

O’Connor Abrams presented the Green Award with Colleen Daly, vice president of The Howard Elliott Collection and president of the Accessories Resource Team (ART). This year, the award was judged solely by O’Connor Abrams and recognized the single most sustainable manufacturer for its transparency and sustainable  practices. In their remarks, O’Connor Abrams and Daly highlighted the industry’s unity during the ceremony, forecasting impact through SFC’s alliance with Cascale.

Together, ART and Dallas Market Center convene the ARTS Awards each year. Held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, the gala reception capstones the January Dallas Total Home & Gift Market.

In all, there were over 600 attendees, with strong representation from SFC. Returning again this year, Emmy-winning TV personality and stylist Carson Kressley and celebrity interior designer Thom Filicia co-hosted the evening.

As in years past, category awards were for: Accent Furniture, Area Rugs, Home Accents, Home Textiles, Lamps, Lighting Fixtures, Outdoor Living, Tabletop, Wall Décor, Furniture Store, Home Accents (East Region), Home Accents (West Region), Lighting Showroom (East Region), Lighting Showroom (West Region), Design Studio, Interior Designer, Product Designer, Sales Representatives (East Region), and Sales Representatives (West Region).

The Sustainable Furnishings Council recognized these SFC members in advance of the Awards Gala, through the SFC newsletter and social media, who were finalists in various award categories. Congratulations go to SFC founding member Phillips Collection and Libby Langdon for their wins!

 

Special honors were also given for the Legendary Leadership Award, posthumously honoring Bill Winsor, former chairman emeritus, president, and CEO of Dallas Market Center; the HEARTS Award, presented to Heart on Main Street; and the Academy of Achievement Award.



Photographed from left to right: Carol Gregg (Owner, red egg); Jason Phillips (CEO, Phillips Collection); Michela O’Connor Abrams (BOD Chair, SFC), Hank Cravey (CEO, Home Trends & Design); and Scarlette Tapp (Executive Director, SFC, Cascale)

Blogs / How the Wood Furniture Scorecard Moves the Needle on Responsible Wood Sourcing

How the Wood Furniture Scorecard Moves the Needle on Responsible Wood Sourcing

  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

In this blog, Sustainable Furnishing Council’s program director Angie Kenny discusses how the Wood Furniture Scorecard drives the furniture industry to make more responsible, transparent wood sourcing choices. Cascale acquired SFC key assets in September.

A sunlit room with mod wooden furniture
Angie Kenny, Manager, SFC
Angie Kenny
November 21, 2025

A walk through a furniture store may lead you to an eye-catching walnut mid-century console, a reclaimed ash dining table, or a sturdy white oak platform bed – each designed, manufactured, and sold to appeal to a certain consumer aesthetic.

But today’s furniture consumers are beginning to look beyond the design, understanding that behind every piece of wood furniture is a forest somewhere in the world and a decision is made about how that forest is managed. These wood sourcing decisions affect more than just furniture buyers, as they have an impact on forest health and longevity.

That’s why, eight years ago, the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) created the Wood Furniture Scorecard: to shine a light on those decisions, and to help move the home furnishings industry toward truly responsible wood sourcing.

This month, we released the 2025 Wood Furniture Scorecard, and the results tell an important story: Furniture retailers are standing firm in their commitment to responsible wood sourcing even as uncertain economic conditions might entice them to waiver in that commitment.

Purpose and Scope

The Wood Furniture Scorecard is a collaborative initiative between SFC and NWF that assesses furniture retailers on their wood sourcing policies and practices. The Scorecard evaluates over 100 North American furniture retailers on their annual wood sourcing policies, goals, and practices. Its aim is to promote transparency, accountability, and progress toward sustainable forestry and ethical supply chains in the furniture industry — the world’s third-largest wood consumer.

The Scorecard is, at its core, an accountability tool. It empowers consumers to make informed choices, rewards companies that are making steady progress, and challenges the rest of the industry to move beyond incremental steps toward real, transformative change.

How it Works 

Companies are assessed across three main areas: responsible wood sourcing policy, sourcing practices and performance, and any additional actions that promote public transparency (such as publishing detailed descriptions of wood sources on a company website).

In simple terms, the Scorecard asks retailers:

  1. Do you have a clear, public policy for responsible wood sourcing, and are you implementing the policy?
  2. Are you prioritizing certified wood — especially Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) — and reclaimed wood?
  3. Are you transparent with your customers about where your wood comes from and how it is sourced?

Evaluations are based on publicly available data and direct company engagement. Retailers receive tailored recommendations to improve and implement their sourcing policies, helping them move from commitment to measurable action. Each year, companies can achieve “Top Score” or “High Score” status, and one company can achieve “Most Improved” status.

Key Updates for 2025

The 2025 edition continues its focus on encouraging and rewarding companies to set and publicly report targets, recognizing transparency as vital for industry accountability and progress.

Two Cascale member companies achieved high scores this year: Williams Sonoma Inc., achieving Top Score status, and Target, maintaining its High Score.

Why it Matters

As a public-facing tool, the scorecard encourages consumers to play a direct role in forest conservation. By choosing responsibly sourced wood furniture — especially products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) — buyers can help protect forests, biodiversity, and local communities.

Further, Cascale’s acquisition of key SFC assets means that this visibility travels far and wide, directly supporting this co-minded mission. SFC’s tools strongly align with and support Cascale’s impact pillars, helping the consumer goods industry collectively catalyze collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

View the Full Scorecard
News Updates / Cascale Members Featured in SFC Wood Furniture Scorecard 2025

Cascale Members Featured in SFC Wood Furniture Scorecard 2025

  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

Cascale members Williams-Sonoma and Target are among the top and high-scoring companies in the 2025 Wood Furniture Scorecard, an annual accountability tool based on wood sourcing best practices.

A vivid green forest photograph with blue sky in background shot by Gabriel Cernei via Unsplash.com
November 14, 2025

Cascale members are among the top and high-scoring companies in the 2025 Wood Furniture Scorecard, an annual accountability tool from the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) that evaluates furniture retailers on their wood sourcing policies and the implementation of these policies.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has advanced from a high scorer to a top scorer since last year. A Cascale member since 2014, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is the parent company of many namesake brands, including Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Teen, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm, and Rejuvenation.

Target, a consistently strong performer, has maintained its high-score status. Both companies are members of Cascale. Target has been a Cascale member since 2013 and is one of the organization’s founding members, operating from its Minneapolis-based headquarters with more than 1,800 stores and over 35 distribution centers across the U.S. and Canada.

Now in its eighth year, the Wood Furniture Scorecard — led by SFC and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) — highlights companies that are driving more sustainable and transparent wood sourcing practices across the furniture sector. The initiative recognizes three award levels: Top Scorers, High Scorers, and Most Improved. Scores are published annually on the SFC website in November. This year’s scorecard included analysis of 111 total companies. According to the scorecard’s methodology, Top Scorers earned 30 or more points across the three categories of Responsible Wood Sourcing Policy; Responsible Sourcing Practices and Performance; and Additional Actions. High Scorers include 19 to 29 points across the three categories. Most Improved includes companies that earn at least 10 points more than they have earned in previous years, though less than the threshold for High Score, though no companies scored in 2025 met this criteria.

This is the first Wood Furniture Scorecard to be released since Cascale acquired key assets of the SFC in September 2025, extending Cascale’s impact beyond apparel into the home furnishings sector and supporting its two pillars: combating climate change and promoting decent work for all.

Cascale commends the ongoing leadership of SFC and NWF in promoting credible, data-driven approaches to sustainability. Responsible material sourcing is a cornerstone of climate action and decent work across the consumer goods value chain — values shared across Cascale’s global alliance and embedded in its members’ pursuit of measurable impact for both people and planet.

Read the Full 2025 Scorecard Here
News Updates / Cascale and Sustainable Furnishings Council Engage at Greenbuild 2025

Cascale and Sustainable Furnishings Council Engage at Greenbuild 2025

  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

Sustainability leaders from around the world gathered at the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in Los Angeles to explore how data, design, and collaboration can accelerate the shift toward low-carbon, circular, and health-focused built environments.

Cascale, SFC attend the Greenbuild Conference in Los Angeles in 2025.
November 13, 2025

Sustainability leaders from around the world gathered at the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in Los Angeles to explore how data, design, and collaboration can accelerate the shift toward low-carbon, circular, and health-focused built environments.

This year’s event focused on the intersection of materials innovation, emissions reduction, and human health — priorities that align closely with Cascale’s mission to drive equitable and restorative business practices across the consumer goods industry.

In September, Cascale acquired the tools of the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC), the only industry-wide member organization dedicated to advancing sustainability in home furnishings. Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, Cascale communications director, and Scarlette Tapp, executive director at SFC, attended the conference as well as Greenbuild’s Women in Green luncheon.

Sponsored by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) – a nonprofit that supports sustainable forest management –the luncheon featured a keynote by Annie Perkins, senior director, green building and supply chain at SFI. It also included a presentation by Jothsna Harris, founder of Change Narrative, who moderated a panel that included Christine Marez, senior vice president, Sustainability & ESG, Cumming Group; Kris Larson, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department; and Clove Galilee, community engagement coordinator at the Office of Sustainability and the Environment for the City of Santa Monica.

Participation at Greenbuild underscores Cascale’s commitment to connecting industries that share similar value-chain challenges and opportunities — from apparel to furniture and beyond. By fostering these cross-sector conversations, Cascale and SFC continue to strengthen collaboration, scale credible measurement, and support innovation that delivers measurable environmental and social impact.

News Updates / Cascale, Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) Mark Presence at High Point Market

Cascale, Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) Mark Presence at High Point Market

  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

Now under Cascale, Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) staff attend the High Point Market in High Point, N.C. October 25-29.

November 07, 2025

Cascale staff in attendance included Ashley Buchalter, Angie Kenny, and Scarlette Tapp.

Now under Cascale, Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) staff attended the High Point Market in High Point, N.C. October 25 to 29.

Cascale staff in attendance included Ashley Buchalter, manager, global membership development, AMER; Angie Kenny, manager, Cascale’s Sustainable Furnishings Council; and Scarlette Tapp, executive director of SFC. Approximately 38 SFC members exhibited at the market, among them American Leather, Copeland Furniture, Jaipur Living, Home Trends & Design, Hooker Furnishings, Vanguard Furniture, Composad, Arteriors, and Norwalk Furniture. The brands’ showrooms were spread across the furniture market district.

High Point Market focuses attention on buyer and designer education, hosting seminars with topics around sustainable materials, trends, and celebrity designer-licensed furniture. Highlights included a keynote from Amy Astley, who was celebrating her 10th anniversary as editor-in-chief of Architectural Digest, and a “Learning from Leaders Forum” around sustainable sourcing, with representative SFC member companies in discussion. Also new this fall, the National Kitchen + Bath Association (NKBA) debuted at High Point Market, marking a strategic expansion into whole-home design.

Angie Kenny, SFC manager, judged and co-presented the Green Leaf Award at the annual Pinnacle Awards Ceremony hosted by International Furniture Designers Association.

Two SFC member companies were presented with Pinnacle Awards in other categories during the ceremony. These included Phillips Collection, winner of the “Accessories & Wall Décor” category; and Greenington Fine Bamboo Furniture, winner of the “Stationary Upholstery-Broad Appeal” category.

Furniture industry advocates will next convene at the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market and the 36th Annual ARTS Awards in Dallas in January 2026.

Blogs / SFC’s Guidance for Furniture, Home Goods Amid Trade Volatility

SFC’s Guidance for Furniture, Home Goods Amid Trade Volatility

  • Sustainable Furnishings Council

With the U.S. looking to increase tariffs on imports of timber, lumber, and derivative products like furniture, the Sustainable Furnishings Council (now part of Cascale) offers guidance.

Unsplash image of a peaceful lush forest via Wim van 't Einde.
Headshot of Scarlette Tapp
Scarlette Tapp
October 17, 2025

Trade has never been certain, and certainly not this year. When we announced that Cascale acquired Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) assets in September, we knew alignment would be key to navigating uncertainty.

On October 10, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued guidance that effectively established new Section 232 tariffs on timber, lumber, and derivative wood products. For some goods, these duties already came into effect on October 14, and more escalations are slated for January 1, 2026 including an additional proposed duty on upholstered wood furniture (from 25 percent to 30 percent) and kitchen cabinets and vanities (from 25 percent to 50 percent).

In response to these new Section 232 tariffs, SFC offered the following recommendations:

  • Urges the Administration to ensure new furniture and lumber tariffs don’t penalize companies committed to responsible sourcing.
  • Calls for clear exclusions for FSC-certified, low-carbon, and traceable imports — protecting progress on climate and circularity goals.
  • Reaffirms its commitment to evidence-based, market-driven sustainability that strengthens both U.S. manufacturing – and scales impact beyond the U.S. – through proven and ethical global environmental stewardship.

Even without this adherence, we remind our members and the Cascale community that ethical business matters in these times. As Cascale has asserted in the past, the global impact of tariffs is wide-reaching, spanning the entire value chain. It’s our hope that through collaboration between SFC and Cascale, we can scale the change needed further, in the U.S. and beyond.

We have a substantial impact together. As a refresher, SFC, with its 124 members, is the leading sustainability resource center for the home furnishings industry, focusing on suppliers, manufacturers, retailers of interior furnishings, and the designers who specify them. The information, education, and tools provided by SFC promote transparency and encourage action to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of our industry. And, of course, Cascale covers not just apparel, textiles, and footwear – but the wider swath of the consumer goods industry, which includes home furnishings.

Responsible business can be the norm. With tariffs creating real uncertainty across the furniture sector, it starts with sustainable sourcing. As I have witnessed during my time as executive director of SFC, our members strive to incorporate responsibly-sourced wood (Forest Stewardship Council-certified, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or reclaimed) into their supply chains to combat climate change. As many U.S. furniture manufacturers and retailers are sourcing and importing wood, cabinetry, and upholstered wood furniture from outside of the U.S., SFC educates about and promotes responsible sourcing from well-managed forests. These encompass those that do not contribute to illegal logging, deforestation, forest degradation, biodiversity loss, or human or labor rights violations.

So as the trade landscape evolves, together with Cascale, we aim to drive equitable and restorative business practices in the consumer goods industry, while ensuring members know the importance of maintaining resilient and ethical business practices.

Navigate Change Together. Join Cascale.