Americans Turn To Fake Christmas Trees Despite Tariffs Hiking Prices

Many Americans are embracing artificial Christmas trees this holiday season despite them potentially being priced higher due to tariffs, the Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday.

Prices for fake Christmas trees increased an estimated 10% to 15% in 2025 due to new tariffs, the AP reported, citing recent data from the American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA), a non-profit trade organization. Some tree companies in the U.S. have been having to slash their orders and shell out increased tariffs for the stock they gained this year, per the AP.

Roughly 80% of Americans who intend to put up a Christmas tree this year are planning to use an artificial one, the AP reported, citing data from the ACTA. Many Americans now prefer to buy fake trees even if they are not made in the U.S., according to the outlet.

“Putting a ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ sticker on the box won’t do any good if it’s twice as expensive,” Chris Butler, CEO of the National Tree Co., which sells over 1 million artificial trees each year, told the AP. “If it’s 20% more expensive, it won’t sell.”

Moreover, some artificial tree businesses have recently begun moving their production so that they are relying less heavily on China, the AP reported.

Mac Harman, founder and CEO of Balsam Brands, which sells hundreds of thousands of Balsam Hill trees annually, told the AP that many Americans prefer to put up their Christmas trees around Thanksgiving and keep them on display for weeks, which can result in fresh-cut trees drying out. Harman added that some Americans turn to putting up artificial Christmas trees because they are allergic to mold spores which can be found on real trees, the AP reported.