Washington, DC: United States President Donald Trump on Friday announced that his administration will impose a 100 per cent tariff on branded and patented pharmaceutical products beginning October 1, 2025, unless the manufacturing companies are building production facilities in the United States.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote, "Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America. 'IS BUILDING' will be defined as 'breaking ground' and/or 'under construction.'"
Clarifying the scope of the measure, Trump added that companies that have already begun construction of plants in the US will be exempt from the new tariff. "There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" the post read.
He also announced sweeping tariffs on various household products, including imported kitchen cabinets and certain kinds of furniture - potentially adding even more costs to a category that has surged in price in recent months. Trump also announced heavy truck tariffs and pharmaceutical tariffs, CNN reported.
Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, "We will be imposing a 50 per cent Tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities, and associated products, starting October 1st, 2025. Additionally, we will be charging a 30 per cent Tariff on Upholstered Furniture."
Various tariffs that Trump has imposed have already boosted furniture prices considerably over the past year. Overall, furniture last month cost 4.7 per cent more than in August 2024, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics.
Living room and dining room furniture, in particular, has grown more expensive - rising 9.5 per cent over the past 12 months, according to the BLS.
Furniture prices have surged as Trump hiked tariffs on China and Vietnam, the top two sources of imported furniture. Both countries exported USD 12 billion worth of furniture and fixtures last year, according to US Commerce Department data.
Furniture prices had largely fallen for the past two and a half years prior to Trump's tariffs. But Trump said that foreign manufacturers have oversupplied the US market, and the tariffs were necessary to regain US manufacturing prowess, as per CNN.
"The reason for this is the large-scale 'FLOODING' of these products into the United States by other outside Countries," Trump said. "It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for National Security and other reasons, our Manufacturing process."
Meanwhile, new tariff rates for dozens of countries were introduced in August, after delays to allow for trade talks. They include: 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent penalty for trade with Russia; 50 per cent tariffs on Brazilian goods; 30 per cent tariffs on South African goods; 20 per cent tariffs on Vietnamese goods; 15 per cent tariffs on Japanese goods; and 15 per cent tariffs on South Korean goods.