WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters): President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled a fresh round of punishing tariffs on a broad range of imported goods, including 100% duties on branded drugs and 25% tariffs on heavy-duty trucks, set to come into force next week.
Tariffs have been a feature of Trump's second term, with sweeping duties on trading partners ranging from 10% to 50% and other targeted levies on a wide variety of products, casting a shadow over the global economic outlook and paralyzing business decision-making.
The announcements, made on Truth Social, did not include details about whether the new levies would apply on top of national tariffs or whether economies with trade deals such as the European Union and Japan would be exempted. Tokyo said it was still analyzing the potential impact of the new measures.
Trump also said he would start charging a 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities and a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture, with all the new duties to take effect from October 1.
"The reason for this is the large scale “FLOODING” of these products into the United States by other outside Countries," Trump said on Truth Social of the tariffs on household goods.
Stocks of pharmaceutical companies across Asia sank as investors reacted to the news, with Australia's CSL hitting a six-year low, Japan's Sumitomo Pharma tumbling more than 5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Biotech Index down about 2.5%.
An index tracking Chinese-listed furniture makers also dropped 1.1%.
The new actions are seen as part of the Trump administration's shift to better-established legal authorities for its tariff actions, given the risks associated with a case before the Supreme Court on the legality of his sweeping global tariffs, opens new tab.
The new 100% tariff on any branded or patented pharmaceutical product will apply to all imports unless the company has already broken ground on building a manufacturing plant in the United States, Trump said.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group, said companies "continue to announce hundreds of billions in new U.S. investments. Tariffs risk those plans."
The Trump administration has opened a dozen probes into the national security ramifications of imports of wind turbines, airplanes, semiconductors, polysilicon, copper, timber and lumber and critical minerals to form the basis of new tariffs.
Trump this week announced new probes into personal protective equipment, medical items, robotics and industrial machinery.
Photo from Reuters
