President Trump announces new tariffs on drugs, trucks and furniture
President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on branded pharmaceuticals and new tariffs on trucks, furniture and cabinets.
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Oct. 17 that imposes a 25% tariff on imported heavy-duty trucks and a 10% tariff on imported buses starting Nov. 1, something he has argued for months is to protect domestic manufacturers.
The program is designed to encourage automakers to produce in the United States by providing rebates on certain auto parts that must be imported, while creating high-wage jobs for Americans, senior administration officials said on a conference call.
President Trump originally set a deadline for the tariffs to take effect from September to October 1, but later delayed that by a month.
President Trump said the new tariffs on heavy trucks are meant to protect manufacturers from “unfair external competition” and that the measure will benefit many companies.
“Our nation’s major heavy-duty truck companies, including Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, and Mack Trucks, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interference,” Trump wrote in a Sept. 25 post on Truth Social. “We need truckers to be financially healthy and strong for a variety of reasons, but foremost for national security.”
Earlier, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the department not to impose new truck tariffs, noting that the top five importing countries are Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Finland, “all of which are allies or close partners of the United States and do not pose a threat to U.S. national security.”
Mexico is the largest exporter of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to the United States. Imports of these large vehicles from Mexico have tripled since 2019, according to Reuters.
Contributed by: Reuters
