Trump says US to impose up to 250% tariff on pharmaceuticals

The Mainichi

18 hours ago

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- The United States plans to initially impose a "small tariff" on pharmaceuticals before eventually raising the rate to as high as 250 percent in a year and a half, President Donald Trump said in a TV interview that aired Tuesday.
As he relentlessly pursues his "America First" trade policies, Trump told CNBC that he will also announce a tariff on semiconductors in the "next week or so," without elaborating.
For months, Trump has been saying that American industry in the two areas will be protected by hefty sectoral tariffs, in addition to those already introduced on national security grounds for the automotive, steel, aluminum and copper sectors.
"In one year, one and a half years maximum, it's going to go to 150 percent and then it's going to go to 250 percent because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country," Trump said, referring to his planned tariff on pharmaceuticals.
But he stopped short of mentioning the initial tariff rate.
About a month ago, Trump said during a Cabinet meeting that pharmaceuticals would be tariffed at a "very, very high rate, like 200 percent."
If the level eventually reaches 250 percent, it would be the highest rate by far among all the new tariffs imposed under his second term.
Since this spring, the Commerce Department has been investigating whether the administration should impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals and chips for national security reasons.
Trump's remarks came before his country-specific "reciprocal" tariffs, ranging from 10 percent to 41 percent, are set to take effect on Thursday, with the increased rates either set by the White House or negotiated through trade deals.
During his phone interview on CNBC, which lasted about 40 minutes, Trump also touched on China and said a U.S. trade deal with the Asian powerhouse is on the horizon.
"I'll end up having a meeting before the end of the year, most likely, if we make a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'm not going to have a meeting," he said about the possibility of holding in-person talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"What's the purpose of meeting if we're not going to make a deal? But we're getting very close to a deal. We're getting along with China very well," he said.
Later in the day, Trump told reporters that he will decide on Wednesday whether to slap additional tariffs on countries that continue to purchase energy from Russia.
"We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We're going to see what happens," he said. "We'll make that determination at that time."
In mid-July, Trump said Russia could face "severe" U.S. tariffs, potentially at a rate of 100 percent, if it failed to reach a deal to halt its war in Ukraine at an early date. He also warned that secondary tariffs would be applied to countries that buy oil and other goods from Russia.
In recent days, he has been targeting India in particular with a threat of "substantially" raising the 25 percent tariff he has set for goods imported from the country, accusing it of continuing to purchase and resell oil from Russia.