Tariffs could be coming for your Christmas tree

Forget the Grinch — this year, it’s tariffs that could try to steal the Christmas tree.

Forget the Grinch — this year, it’s tariffs that could try to steal the Christmas tree.

Artificial Christmas trees will cost an estimated 10% to 20% more this season than they did last year because of increased tariff costs, according to several major U.S. importers. And the cost of lights could jump as much as 63% for the same reason.

Mass market Christmas decor has not been manufactured in the United States for decades. If vendors were to try to make it domestically, the mere cost of moving the manufacturing operations would be prohibitive — let alone actually producing the trees.

Mac Harman, the founder and CEO of artificial tree vendor Balsam Hill, estimates that if he were to manufacture Christmas trees in the U.S., the price of an $800 tree would skyrocket to around $3,000.

“When we make Christmas trees, some of the equipment is the size of a U.S. football field,” he told NBC News in an interview.