New tariffs on big-rig trucks, pharmaceuticals and home renovation fixtures have been announced by Donald Trump. Photo / Chandan Khanna, AFP
New tariffs on big-rig trucks, pharmaceuticals and home renovation fixtures have been announced by Donald Trump. Photo / Chandan Khanna, AFP
US President Donald Trump today announced punishing tariffs on pharmaceuticals, big-rig trucks, home renovation fixtures and furniture, reviving his global trade war.
The lannouncement is the harshest trade policy from the President since April’s shock unveiling of reciprocal tariffs on virtually every US trading partner across the globe.
Starting October1, “we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America”, the Republican wrote on his Truth Social platform in the late evening local time.
In a separate post, he wrote of a 25% tariff on “all ‘Heavy (Big) Trucks’ made in other parts of the world” to support US manufacturers such as “Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks and others”.
Foreign companies that compete with these manufacturers in the US market include Sweden’s Volvo and Germany’s Daimler, which includes brands Freightliner and Western Star.
Shares in both companies were sharply lower in after-hours trading in Europe.
The tariffs include 100% on pharmaceuticals, 25% on trucks, and 50% on kitchen cabinets. Photo / Charly Triballeau, AFP
Trump said the truck tariffs were “for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!”
Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched a so-called Section 232 probe into imports of trucks to “determine the effects of national security”, setting the stage for today’s announcement.
Section 232 is a trade law provision that gives the President broad authority to impose tariffs or other restrictions on imports when they’re deemed a threat to national security.
Trump has made extensive use of Section 232 to initiate investigations and impose tariffs on imported goods as part of his efforts to bolster US manufacturing and punish countries he says are taking advantage of the US.
The real estate tycoon also targeted home renovation materials, writing “We will be imposing a 50% Tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities and associated products”, as of October 1.
“Additionally, we will be charging a 30% Tariff on Upholstered Furniture,” he added.
According to the United States International Trade Commission, imports in 2022, mainly from Asia, represented 60% of all furniture sold, including 86% of all wood furniture and 42% of all upholstered furniture.
Shares in home furniture retailers Wayfair and Williams Sonoma, which depend on these imported goods, tumbled in after-hours trading following the announcement.
The tariff onslaught will rekindle fears over inflation in the US, the world’s biggest economy.
Trump is on a mission to rebuild manufacturing through protectionist policies that mark a complete reversal of modern US policy to maintain an open and import-dependent economy.
His administration has imposed a baseline 10% tariff on all countries, with higher individualised rates on nations where exports to the US far exceed imports.
The President has also used emergency powers to impose extra tariffs on trade deal partners Canada and Mexico, as well as on China, citing concerns over fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration.
