WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is continuing his pressure campaign to upend global trade policy by announcing a 50% tariff on copper imports and plans to soon put a tariff on pharmaceuticals entering the U.S.
Copper is a core component in electrical equipment. Many household appliances also have copper in their wiring.
“I believe the tariff on copper, we’re going to make 50%,” Trump said at a July 8 meeting of his Cabinet where he indicated that he would formalize the new tariff later in the day. Trump did not say when it would go into effect.
Pharmaceuticals, Trump added, would also face a “very high rate, like 200%” that he would be introducing at a later date. Tariffs on those imports would not go into effect for a least a year to give drugmakers time to prepare, he said.
Tariff hike: Trump announces tariff hikes on 14 countries including Indonesia and South Africa
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that the copper tariff would take effect at the end of the month or on Aug. 1, when the U.S. plans to begin collecting on Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. Lutnick said studies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were also expected to be completed at the end of July.
The president on July 7 told 14 countries that their exports would face tariffs of 25% or more in letters he published to social media. He was expected to issue as many as 100 letters before Aug. 1 informing countries that have not made another arrangement with the United States of their new tariff rate. He has had a baseline tariff of 10% on most nations since April.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump slaps tariffs on copper imports and teases pharmaceutical tax
