On Tuesday local time, U.S. President Trump said he would announce import tariffs on cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals in early April. Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago that he may announce auto import tariffs on April 2, saying the rate would be "around 25%." Trump announced last Friday that he would impose auto tariffs. He announced at the time that he planned to impose tariffs on imported cars around April 2.
Trump has long complained that U.S. auto exports are treated unfairly in foreign markets.
For example, the European Union imposes a 10% tariff on automobile imports, which is four times the U.S. tariff of 2.5% on passenger cars. However, the United States imposes a 25% tariff on high-profit imported pickup trucks.
About 50% of cars sold in the United States are manufactured domestically. About half of the imported cars come from Mexico and Canada, and the other half come from other major car-producing countries.
Some analysts say that auto tariffs may hit automakers in Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany and South Korea the hardest.
There will also be taxes on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals
When asked about tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, Trump said that tariffs on these two categories of imported goods may also start in April, and the rates will be "25% or higher, and they will increase significantly over the course of a year."
According to relevant analysis, semiconductor tariffs will have the most serious impact on countries such as South Korea and Japan. South Korea is an important semiconductor producer in the world and exports a large number of products to the United States. Japan has strong technological and industrial advantages in the fields of semiconductor materials, equipment and some semiconductor components, and plays an indispensable role in the global semiconductor industry chain.
Countries such as India and Switzerland will be hardest hit by drug tariffs. India is a major global producer and exporter of generic drugs. Switzerland is home to world-renowned pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis and Roche, and is a world leader in the research and development and production of innovative drugs. Swiss pharmaceutical companies also export to the US market on a large scale.
Trump also said that the increase in tariffs is to attract manufacturers to the United States, and he hopes to "give companies time to come in" before announcing new tariffs.
"But we want to give them time to come in," he said. "Because you know, when they come into the U.S. and have their own factory here there's no tariffs, so we want to give them a little bit of a chance."
Tariffs continue to increase
Although many economists have warned that imposing tariffs on imported goods could lead to higher prices for American consumers, Trump has stepped up the use of tariffs since taking office.
At the beginning of this month, Trump signed an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada. Later, after reaching an agreement with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum, he suspended the tariff measures for Canada and Mexico for one month.
Trump also signed an executive order to impose a 10% tariff on goods imported from China. On the 10th of this month, Trump signed an executive order announcing a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States. Last Thursday, he signed a memorandum requiring relevant departments to determine "reciprocal tariffs" with each foreign trading partner.