*

US retailers order fewer fake Christmas trees

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90-day pause on tariffs comes too late for holiday

inventory

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Some suppliers, shippers and retailers boosted orders

after new

moratorium

By Jessica DiNapoli, Casey Hall and Siddharth Cavale

NEW YORK/SHANGHAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers

looking for fake Christmas trees and holiday decor this year

will have fewer choices and face higher prices as tariffs on

Chinese imports force retailers to scale back orders as they

assess how tight customer budgets are.

A 90-day extension to a tariff reprieve - agreed to by

Washington and Beijing on August 11 - will allow retailers to

rush in some last-minute shipments, but most holiday purchases

are already done. Retailers typically import seasonal goods in

advance because many products need six-month lead times.

"We're going to have a lower supply year," said Chris Butler,

CEO of National Tree Company, a New Jersey-based artificial tree

importer supplying Walmart ( WMT ), Home Depot ( HD ),

Lowe's and Amazon ( AMZN ).

The company, which sources roughly half its trees from China

and the rest from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, will hike

prices by 10% to 20% on its Carolina pine, Nordic spruce, and

Dunhill fir trees, Butler said.

China is the biggest exporter of Christmas decorations to the

U.S., accounting for 87% of such imports last year, worth

roughly $4 billion, according to United States International

Trade Commission data.

"We're not overbuying (from our suppliers) because we're not

sure about consumer demand and don't want expensive inventory on

our books," Butler said.

Big retailers are more keen than usual to have National Tree

ship directly to consumers rather than buying them as inventory,

reducing the stores' risk on their balance sheets.

Butler's rival, Mac Harman, CEO of California-based Balsam Hill,

expects about 15% fewer trees in the market this season. "Even

with the extended 90 days, it's too late for any of us to add

orders," he said.

Retailers started cutting orders after U.S. President Donald

Trump flip-flopped on China tariffs - raising them to 145% in

April, then cutting them to 30% a month later - because they are

unwilling to buy trees at elevated prices, said Harman. He

sources trees from around 80 suppliers, half of which are in

China.

Still, the latest pause has netted Balsam Hill some $2.5

million in savings, he said.

A Walmart ( WMT ) spokesperson said the company was confident in its

inventory position heading into the holiday.

Home Depot ( HD ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) declined to comment, while Lowe's

did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

'STILL TOO MUCH'

The reduced demand for fake trees, a key Christmas purchase,

signals a muted shopping season. Higher prices on essentials

like diapers and dish soap have already strained budgets. Denim

maker Levi Strauss said last month it will offer a

leaner holiday selection.

Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment that makes Bratz

dolls, said a 30% tariff on toys "is still too much." The

company has raised prices, he said.

Only goods shipped by air would benefit from the delay in

higher tariffs, said Chris Rogers, head of supply chain

research, S&P Global Market Intelligence. Companies including

Apple ( AAPL ) that have upcoming product launches will gain

from the certainty that there will be a 30% tariff, he said.

Some suppliers, shippers, and retailers, however, started

rushing extra orders after the moratorium was announced,

industry sources said.

While most footwear makers simplified holiday orders due to

tariff uncertainty, a few are placing new orders to add variety

to their inventory, said Matt Priest, CEO of industry group

Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA).

It may not be simple to ramp up orders, though.

Imports face manufacturing bottlenecks as brands that

diversified to other countries after initial tariffs now face

delays before new manufacturers can scale up, said Dave Tu,

president of DCL Logistics, which imports for clients like

GoPro ( GPRO ).

By and large, this tariff extension changes little for holiday

imports. For most companies, said FDRA's Priest, holiday

inventory "is what it is."

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