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The CEO of a holiday decor company said he’s been forced to raise the price of artificial trees by as much as 20 percent.
Brendan RasciusIn New YorkTuesday 25 November 2025 20:13 GMTComments
CloseFirst lady Melania Trump receives the White House Christmas tree
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As the holiday season nears, shoppers in the U.S. may encounter higher costs when buying artificial Christmas trees — due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to a company executive.
Mac Harman, the CEO of Balsam Hill, an American holiday decor company, told Politico he’s been forced to raise prices on fake trees this year by as much as 20 percent because of the president’s wide-ranging tariffs.
“It would have been even more if he hadn’t imported much of this season’s inventory before Trump took office,” the outlet noted.
Harman — whose company sponsors the National Christmas Tree — has urged White House officials to lower tariffs, emphasizing that artificial trees are neither strategic goods nor feasible to manufacture domestically in the U.S.
“We are optimistic that the president will save Christmas,” he added.
In recent months, Trump has rolled back some of his many tariffs, including those on over 200 essential food products,The Independent previously reported.
open image in galleryThe CEO of a holiday decor company said he's been forced to raise prices on artificial Christmas trees due to Trump's tariffs. (AFP via Getty Images)A cost hike on fake trees would likely impact millions of Americans. An October survey from the American Christmas Tree Association found that 83 percent of households intending to display a tree in 2025 will use an artificial one. And a November survey revealed 84 percent of Americans believe Christmas decor has become more expensive in recent years.
And it’s not just holiday trappings that have crept up in price. Across the board, consumer prices increased by 3 percent year-over-year in September, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“There is definitely some cause for concern over pricing,” Mark Mathews, the chief economist at the National Retail Federation, told Politico. “Businesses have been eating the majority of tariffs up until this point. We also know that that’s unsustainable, and we’re going to have to see more transmission of increased prices onto the consumer.”
open image in galleryOn Monday, First Lady Melania Trump welcomed the official White House Christmas, which was chopped from a farm in Michigan and transported to the executive mansion via horse-drawn carriage. (AP)But a White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai dismissed these economic concerns, which he described to Politico as “endless doomsday fantasizing by the Fake News and Democrats.”
He added that “the hard data of robust consumer spending and retail sales data have been clear: real wages are rising under President Trump, and Americans’ hard-earned money is going further than it did under Joe Biden.”
The back-and-forth over Christmas trees comes a few days after First Lady Melania Trump welcomed the official White House tree, which was felled in Michigan and ferried to the executive mansion via a horse-drawn carriage.
“It's a beautiful tree,” the first lady said, while standing next to the towering conifer.
In the past, she has privately voiced frustration about having to oversee the White House Christmas decorations, a responsibility traditionally handled by the first lady.
“I’m working…my a** off on the Christmas stuff,” she said in a 2018 audio recording leaked by her former aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, according to The Guardian. “You know, who gives a f*** about the Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?”
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