Trump to launch new round of tariffs, targeting pharma, chips and minerals

Time of India

4 hours ago

The Trump administration plans new tariffs. These tariffs target sectors vital to national security. Semiconductors and pharmaceuticals are included. These tariffs are under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. Tariffs on steel and aluminum already exist. These tariffs may impact almost every good entering the US. Pharmaceutical tariffs are coming soon.
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The Trump administration is pressing ahead with another tariff barrage that some trade experts say is more legally sound than the president's country-by-country duties and may end up having an equally broad effect on imports.The US Commerce Department is set within weeks to announce the outcomes of its investigations into sectors deemed vital to national security, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals . The probes are widely expected to result in levies on a range of foreign-made products in those industries.President Donald Trump is already using that authority, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, to impose import taxes on steel and aluminium he launched in 2018. Recently, he's widened the scope by targeting consumer goods that contain the metals.By one estimate from Michigan State University, Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs , currently set at 50%, are hitting almost $200 billion worth of steel, aluminium and household items such as fishing reels and brooms - nearly quadruple the amount during his first term.The effort comes as Trump's April tariffs on major trading partners stand on shakier legal ground, with the Supreme Court asked on Tuesday to consider striking them down. Some administration officials believe the 232 levies could effectively supplant the country-by-country duties that have drawn legal scrutiny and bogged down negotiations with US allies and adversaries alike trying to strike deals.Nazak Nikakhtar, a partner at Wiley Rein and former senior Commerce official during Trump's first term, said the 232 measures are shaping up to amount to "something close to global tariffs.""These 232 actions are very likely going to result in import restrictions on almost every good entering the US, and the size and scale of these restrictions will be so massive because China's distortion has been so massive," she added.Speaking to reporters this week while returning from the Group of Seven summit in Canada, Trump said pharmaceutical tariffs will be coming "very soon" and they will encourage companies to reshore production. "It's going to bring most of them back into, at least partially back in," he said.The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment.The latest example of Trump's wider targeting under his 232 powers came last week when the Commerce Department announced that 50% duties on steel and aluminum products would be expanded to cover home appliances including dishwashers, dryers and washing machines. All of those items are deemed vital to national security under the law Trump invoked to impose duties.