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.

Canadian lumber tariffs, started on October 14, are effectively 45 percent. On the retail front, the two home improvement giants, Home Depot and Lowe’s, clearly are going to get hit the hardest by these increased costs. But so too will flooring specialists like Floor & Décor and Lumber Liquidators, as well as the hundreds or thousands of independent lumber yards and sellers around the country.

Retail doesn’t get to choose the larger policy environment, but it can shape its own brand integrity. In today’s fractured regulatory landscape, where politics drive science and messaging matters, early adoption of PFAS-free solutions will come out as a leading strategy.