AP PHOTOS: Furniture exporters in Malaysia race to beat Trump's 90-day tariff window

MUAR, Malaysia (AP) — In southern Malaysia, furniture manufacturers are in a race against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

After threatening to impose a 24% tax on all goods imported from the Southeast Asian country, Trump said Tuesday he would cut rates 10% for most countries for 90 days. Factories here took that as a deadline to fill as many orders from U.S. customers as possible before the higher rate kicks in.

Muar, in Malaysia’s Johor state, is a major hub for Malaysia’s furniture industry, and the U.S. is its largest export market, accounting for roughly 60% of total exports.

At the Corporate Specialist kitchen furniture factory, workers were packing goods and loading them onto containers as fast as they could on Friday.

Chief Financial Officer Peihing Tsai said the company exports 100% of its products to the U.S.

“We are working overtime now and trying our best to motivate our workers, because these 3 months will be very busy," Tsai said. The company has managed to push out more then 30 containers the past 4 days — the amount it normally ships in a month.

President Donald Trump’s new tariffs threaten to push up prices on clothes, mobile phones, furniture and many other products in the coming months. They could end the era of cheap goods that Americans enjoyed for about a quarter-century before the pandemic.

Tsai said he fears distributors will abandon the factory if tariff rates go above 10%. But still, he added, there's no way the company could move production to the United States — “the cost is astronomical.”

In the end, he said, “the increased price will be have to borne by our end consumers.”

Candice Lim, general manager at furniture maker Natural Signature, said she sees Trump's threats of higher rates as a bargaining position because of the costs they would impose on American consumers.

“It is unlikely to go on in this way," she said. "Otherwise, how can the American people stand it?” she asked.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Factory workers load furniture stocks onto a container for shipping to the U.S., at Corporate Specialist's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A worker inspects stocks before they are loaded into a container for shipping to the U.S., at Corporate Specialist's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Candice Lim, General Manager of Natural Signature, inspects furniture parts for shipping to the U.S., on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A worker collects freshly painted furniture parts before assembling them for shipping to the U.S. at Natural Signature's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Workers assemble furniture parts for shipping to the U.S., at Corporate Specialist's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A worker collects newly painted furniture parts before assembling them for shipping to the U.S. at Corporate Specialist's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Workers pack furniture for shipping to the U.S. at Corporate Specialist's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A workers assembles furniture prepared to be shipped to the U.S., at Corporate Specialist's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Workers are seen in a sanding area for stocks being prepared to be shipped to the U.S. at Corporate Specialist's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Workers pack furniture for shipping to the U.S. at Corporate Specialist's factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state, Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

An employee inspects stocks before they are loaded onto a container for shipping to the U.S. at Corporate Specialist’s furniture factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state of Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A worker loads stocks onto a container for shipping to the U.S. at Corporate Specialist’s furniture factory on the outskirts of Muar, in Johor state of Malaysia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Edmonton Oilers forward Jeff Skinner finally made his Stanley Cup playoff debut Monday night after 15 seasons and a league-record 1,078 regular season games.

Skinner ended the longest wait for a postseason debut in NHL history by contributing an assist in the Oilers' wild 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Skinner, who turns 33 years old next month, has been an NHL regular since he was 18. He has racked up six 30-goal seasons and 699 total points while scoring 373 goals in a standout career.

But Skinner spent his first eight seasons with Carolina, which missed nine consecutive postseasons during the 2010s, and the next six with the woebegone Buffalo Sabres, whose current 14-season playoff drought is the league's longest.

Skinner signed with Edmonton as a free agent last summer, but struggled to nail down a consistent role in the Oilers' lineup in the first half of the season. His game improved markedly in the second half, and he scored 16 goals this season while entering the playoffs as Edmonton's third-line left wing.

Skinner's teammates have been thrilled to end his drought this month. Connor McDavid presented Skinner with the championship belt that serves as their player of the game award after the Oilers clinched their sixth straight playoff berth two weeks ago.

Skinner's line got less playing time than the Oilers' top two groups while Edmonton mounted a four-goal comeback against the Kings, but it was also responsible for the Oilers' second goal. Skinner got the secondary assist when Mattias Janmark scored early in the third period to trim Los Angeles' lead to 4-2.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Edmonton Oilers center Mattias Janmark, right, celebrates his goal with center Jeff Skinner during the third period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Edmonton Oilers center Jeff Skinner, left, moves the puck while under pressure from Los Angeles Kings left wing Warren Foegele during the first period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Monday, April 21, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)