The U.S. plans to put tariffs of up to 250% on pharmaceutical imports over the next year and a half, President Donald Trump said in a Tuesday interview with CNBC.
Trump said he would put a “small tariff” on such imports initially but added that he would raise the duties to 150% and then 250% in “one and a half years maximum.” The president indicated that announcements of pharmaceutical tariffs, as well as duties on semiconductors, would be announced “within the next week or so.”
The Trump administration in April initiated separate Section 232 investigations into pharmaceutical and semiconductor imports. Previous Section 232 probes have led to sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper.
Trump has long threatened levies on pharmaceutical products. In a July cabinet meeting, the president said he was planning to install tariffs “at a very, very high rate, like 200%” on pharmaceutical products “very soon.”
During the same meeting, Trump said he would impose a 50% tariff on copper imports. At the end of July, Trump signed an executive order to install the duty on Aug. 1.
