KLAIPĖDA, Lithuania — The Trump administration's tariffs increased prices for consumers and companies in Chicago and around the world, but Jurgita Radzevičė's business has a cushion, thanks to some lucky timing.SBA Home, a Lithuanian furniture maker that supplies items for Ikea, opened a highly automated 500,000-square-foot factory last fall in Mocksville, North Carolina, outside Winston-Salem.Radzevičė, the 45-year-old CEO of SBA Home, says even though the project was years in the making, the timing was perfect.The $70 million facility opened months after President Donald Trump announced his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025, which included a 20% tax on imports from the European Union. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the tariffs illegal in February, but Trump recently announced a new tariff plan that will levy 10% on EU goods. SBA Home CEO Jurgita Radzevičė at the furniture company’s headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania, on April 21.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times "It's a very nice coincidence about tariffs because when we started our journey, we still had Democrats in the White House, and nobody was talking about tariffs on such a scope," Radzevičė says.The company also has a 538,000-square-foot production facility, named Inno Line, in the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda, one of four SBA Home factories in Lithuania. She says its American investment was to bolster its supply chain."That was the main issue — how to secure logistics and especially after the stories of COVID, when we had huge disruptions, and after the Suez Canal [closure] when we had a huge disruption. So, we understand that if we want to be fast, we need to be more in place," Radzevičė says.Another benefit is a smaller carbon footprint, since finished products don't have to travel as far.The North Carolina factory, which aims to employ 240 people, expects to produce about 450 pieces of furniture per hour for the North American market.If you've wondered how the components for furniture you're assembling get that perfectly smooth, white finish, SBA Home's Inno Line plant in Klaipėda provides the answer.In the highly automated factory, machines pick up particle board, slice it to calibrated sizes and send the pieces down the line to be wrapped in finishing material that's bonded at high heat.Robotic vehicles transfer the pieces of furniture from one station to the next, with flashing lights and beeps warning anyone in their path.Other machines help with quality control and packing for shipping. Rows of particle board at Inno Line, a 538,000-square-foot production facility in Klaipėda, Lithuania. Inno Line is one of four SBA Home factories in Lithuania. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 1 of 16 Inside the 538,000-square-foot production facility Inno Line located in Klaipėda, Lithuania. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 2 of 16 A worker demonstrates how furniture pieces are assembled, during a tour at Inno Line, a 538,000-square-foot production facility in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on April 22. Inno Line is one of four SBA Home factories in Lithuania. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 3 of 16 Rows of particle board with wooden dowl pins on the end can be seen at Inno Line, a 538,000-square-foot production facility in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on April 22. Inno Line is one of four SBA Home factories in Lithuania. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 4 of 16 Automated machines build furniture components at Inno Line, a 538,000-square-foot production facility in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on April 22. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 5 of 16 An employee works on the automated machines that build furniture components at Inno Line, a 538,000-square-foot production facility in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on April 22. Inno Line is one of four SBA Home factories in Lithuania. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 6 of 16 Automated machines build furniture components at Inno Line, a 538,000-square-foot production facility in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on April 22. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 7 of 16 An employee works on the automated machines that build furniture components at Inno Line, a 538,000-square-foot production facility in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on April 22. Inno Line is one of four SBA Home factories in Lithuania. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 8 of 16 Trucks pull into the Inno Line production facility in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on April 22. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 9 of 16 The Inno Line production facility in Klaipėda, one of four SBA Home factories. | Provided by SBA Home 10 of 16 The Inno Line production facility in Klaipėda, one of four SBA Home factories. | Provided by SBA Home 11 of 16 Outside SBA Home’s headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 12 of 16 A forested area near Kazlų Rūda, Lithuania. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 13 of 16 Chopped down trees can be seen in a forested area near Kazlų Rūda, Lithuania, on April 22. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 14 of 16 Chopped down trees can be seen in a forested area near Kazlų Rūda, Lithuania, on April 22. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 15 of 16 Chopped down trees can be seen in a forested area near Kazlų Rūda, Lithuania, on April 22. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times 16 of 16 Furniture factories are scattered throughout Lithuania, some more modern than others. Ikea has a large branded factory in Kazlų Rūda, a town of about 5,400 people in a forested area southwest of Kaunas.Mantas Varaška, mayor of Kazlų Rūda, says the U.S. tariffs upended established trading relationships and harmed everyone."It makes all the world unstable, including those small countries like Lithuania or other Baltic countries," Varaška, 47, says.Companies like Ikea plan several years ahead for production and logistics, including shipping by rail, trucks and planes."So, imagine how it changes the traffic, especially because of American tax decisions, when … Ikea has to rethink all its producing strategy for three years. And of course, it affects us because if there are some changes going in production lines, in technology equipment, they are interrupting the production work for two months, for three months, they are [downsizing to] one shift. That means that people are losing their jobs, or that people are receiving less money for two or three months," he says.Radzevičė says between the tariffs and increased oil prices from the Iran War, "nobody is giving you any time to prepare. That means this is the new normal in our business environment — you need to be extremely fast, extremely dynamic." Mantas Varaška, mayor of Kazlų Rūda, sits for an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times on April 22, outside the city’s Tourism and Business Information Center in southern Lithuania.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times Baltic Silicon ValleyLithuania's economy took off after it joined the EU. By 2007, its gross domestic product was growing by 11.1% a year, according to the World Bank Group.Growth has slowed in recent years to around 3%, but foreign investment continues to pour in.While Lithuania has a long history of furniture-making, thanks to its pine, spruce and birch forests covering about one-third of its land, it's also known for fintech startups and laser production.The country of 2.8 million people has six unicorn companies, or businesses valued at more than $1 billion, and its capital Vilnius is called the Baltic Silicon Valley."We're a small country, so we can't really mass-produce something for the entire world. We just don't have the capacity. But services is where we are really good, and financial services is one of them," says Tadas Vizgirda, 57, managing director of payment processor Shift4 Payments. Tadas Vizgirda, 57, managing director of payment processor Shift4 Payments, stands in the company’s headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania, on April 13.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times Vizgirda grew up in California, married a Lithuanian woman and moved to Vilnius in the early '90s. He says the fintech sector took off about 10 years ago, when Lithuania loosened its banking rules, and international companies found a highly educated population with young workers who speak English."We are a small nation that is just super positive. We're glowing," he says.Edvinas Grikšas, Lithuania's minister for economy and innovation, says the country long ago shed its image as a cheap labor company."We are becoming a technology-based, high added value-based country," he says.At 35, Grikšas is the youngest member of the governing cabinet. He's proud of its tech sector and its growing artificial intelligence presence. His ministry has a "3i" strategy, meaning innovation, investments and institutions.It could soon add a fourth "i": India.The EU and India recently reached a free trade agreement, and Lithuanian access to India's market of 1.4 billion people could make up for some of the trade hiccups caused by the U.S."Cooperation with India is very important and not only in traditional industry," Grikšas says. "They are very interested in our laser sector, in our biotechnology achievement, gene therapy. We are among the top countries globally in those kinds of achievements."But Grikšas is mindful of Lithuania's less urban areas, where more traditional industries still hold sway. The country's goal is to send at least 30% of government investment toward less developed regions."We see this as an opportunity to grow, to raise all our economy — not only in the biggest cities," he says. Minister of the Economy and Innovation Edvinas Grikšas sits for an April 13 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times at the department’s headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times About this series The Pulitzer Center’s mission is to champion the power of stories to make complex issues relevant and inspire action.Pulitzer Center Chicago Sun-Times investigative reporter Stephanie Zimmermann and photo editor Ashlee Rezin traveled to Lithuania for two weeks in April as the Pulitzer Center’s 2026 Richard C. Longworth Media fellows. Their aim was to shed light on a region with strong Chicago ties and an increasingly important role on the world stage.A member of the European Union and NATO since 2004, Lithuania is a paradox. Its economic growth is in Europe’s top 25%, and it has six tech unicorns, startups valued at more than $1 billion. Yet the country of 2.8 million people is located at one of Europe’s most vulnerable spots for military defense.Zimmermann interviewed more than 50 people for the six-story series, from a former president and a current foreign minister to ordinary Lithuanians living at a time of both promise and peril.The storiesAt 250, here’s what the U.S. can learn from Lithuania, a younger democracy aided by ChicagoansWhy I traveled 4,700 miles from Chicago to LithuaniaWhy most Lithuanians support NATO and what Lithuania is doing to protect itself from threatsChicago and Lithuania are linked in their love of basketballComing Saturday: An interview with former President Valdas AdamkusComing Sunday: From furniture-making to tech, Lithuania’s economy is thriving, with six unicorn companies ...read more read less