Key points
- US President Trump seeks to reshape global trade
- Medicine, chip companies may face tariffs
- EU official to meet US officials to discuss tariffs
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump has said that he would likely impose tariffs on cars, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 per cent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the president’s trade war, according to Bloomberg.
Reuters news agency also reported that Trump said he intends to impose auto tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25 per cent” and similar duties on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports.
On Friday, Donald Trump said levies on automobiles would come as soon as April 2, the day after his cabinet members are due to deliver reports to him outlining options for a range of import duties as he seeks to reshape trade around the globe.
Canada and Mexico
Donald Trump has long railed against what he calls the unfair treatment of US automotive exports in foreign markets, according to Reuters.
Reuters reported that the European Union, for example, collects a 10 per cent duty on vehicle imports, four times the US passenger car tariff rate of 2.5 per cent. The US, though, collects a 25 per cent tariff on pickup trucks from countries other than Canada and Mexico, a tax that makes the vehicles highly profitable for Detroit automakers.
READ ALSO: US Imposes Sweeping Tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China
According to Reuters EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will meet with US counterparts – Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee to be US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett – in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the various tariffs threatened by Donald Trump.
Tariffs on pharmaceuticals
Asked whether the EU could avoid reciprocal tariffs he proposed last week, Trump repeated his claim that the EU had already signalled it would lower its tariffs on US cars to the US rate, although EU lawmakers have denied doing so.
He said he would press EU officials to increase US imports of cars and other products.
Donald Trump told reporters in Florida on Tuesday that sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips would also start at “25 per cent or higher”, rising substantially over the course of a year.
However, Trump did not provide a date for announcing those duties and said he wanted to provide some time for medicine and chip makers to establish US factories so that they can avoid tariffs.
Trump said he expected some of the biggest firms in the world to announce new investments in the US in the next couple of weeks. However, Trump provided no further details.
