U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Seashore, Florida, U.S., Feb. 18, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Donald Trump mentioned he might broaden the scope of U.S. tariffs on imports to incorporate vehicles, prescribed drugs and semiconductors.
In remarks to reporters Tuesday, Trump mentioned the duties can be round 25% and “go very considerably greater over a course of a yr.” The president didn’t point out whether or not the brand new tariffs would apply to all automobiles coming into the U.S. or be focused towards sure nations however mentioned they might begin as early as April 2.
Nonetheless, the menace represents a broadening within the administration’s aggressive commerce coverage that already has included 25% tariffs on metal and aluminum imports set to take impact in March.
The nations with the largest auto exports to the U.S. are Mexico, Japan and Canada.
Trump mentioned the tariffs already are having the specified impact, with firms domiciled abroad wanting to come back again to the U.S.
“I have been contacted by a few of the largest firms on this planet, and due to what we’re doing economically and thru tariffs and incentives, they wish to come again into america,” he mentioned.
“Once they come again into america they usually have their plant or manufacturing facility right here, there isn’t any tariff,” Trump added. “So we wish to give them a bit little bit of an opportunity.”
On prescribed drugs, the nations feeling the largest impression doubtless can be Japan and India. The financial impression can be unclear, although the tariffs may irritate prices and trigger shortages initially.
“The tariffs may drive up drug costs for US sufferers, exacerbate drug provide shortages, and push producers to hunt different markets,” mentioned Ophelia Chan, senior enterprise fundamentals analyst at GlobalData. Chan additionally famous that firms within the trade “might reply by relocating manufacturing and trials to the US or different tariff-free nations, although the total results are nonetheless unsure.”
On semiconductors, Trump didn’t point out after they would occur. These levies would impression Taiwan Semiconductor, which offers chips to firms together with Nvidia and Apple.
