Trump tariffs drugs, furniture, heavy trucks to 'protect' U.S. markets

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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump announced a fresh wave of tariffs Thursday on imported pharmaceutical drugs, some building supplies and heavy trucks that he said is to protect American markets.

Trump wants to use tariffs to push drug makers to boost U.S. production and strengthen U.S. supply chains. Trump has also said tariffs could help lower drug costs.

Trump made the announcements late Thursday in a series of Truth Social posts.

The president said a 100% tariff on imported patented drugs will start Oct. 1, with exceptions for companies building manufacturing plants in the U.S.

"There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started," he wrote.

Trump didn't mention generic drugs, which account for about 90% prescriptions in the U.S.

Alex Schriver, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said money spent on tariffs can't be spent on cures.

"Most innovative medicines prescribed in America are already made in America. PhRMA companies continue to announce hundreds of billions in new U.S. investments thanks to President Trump’s pro-growth tax and regulatory policies," he said in a statement. "Tariffs risk those plans because every dollar spent on tariffs is a dollar that cannot be invested in American manufacturing or the development of future treatments and cures."

Schriver said it could raise costs for consumers.

"Medicines have historically been exempt from tariffs because they raise costs and could lead to shortages," he said. 

Trump also hit imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and "associated products" with a 50% tariff. Imported upholstered furniture is set for a 30% levy. That is also set to start Oct. 1.

"The reason for this is the large scale 'FLOODING' of these products into the United States by other outside Countries," Trump wrote. "It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for National Security and other reasons, our Manufacturing process."

He also set a 25% import charge on heavy trucks to protect U.S. companies.

"Our Great Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions," Trump wrote. "We need our Truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!"

Trump has made tariffs the centerpiece of his economic agenda at home and abroad. Trump used a 1977 law that doesn't mention tariffs to reorder global trade in a matter of months through tariffs to try to give U.S. businesses an advantage in the world market. Using tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Trump put import duties of at least 10% on every nation that does business with the U.S. 

A case challenging Trump's tariff authority is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump didn't immediately cite authority for the latest round of tariffs, which may use other federal statutes that haven't yet been challenged.

Trump has said he wants to use tariffs to restore manufacturing jobs lost to lower-wage countries in decades past, shift the tax burden away from U.S. families, and pay down the national debt.

A tariff is a tax on imported goods that the importer pays, not the producer. The importer pays the cost of the duties directly to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a federal agency.