Trump plans pharma tariffs by end of July, chips on horizon

In the U.S.

Tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs may be announced in two weeks' time with the Trump administration starting with a lower rate to allow businesses time to build factories in the U.S. before facing a higher import duty.

Semiconductors will see a similar fate.

Our Moon Ji-young has the latest.

U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated that tariffs on pharmaceutical imports could be imposed as soon as the end of this month, with duties on semiconductors also on the horizon.

"Pharmaceuticals will be tariffed, probably at the end of the month, and we're going to start off with a low tariff, and give the pharmaceutical companies a year or so to build, and then we're going to make it a very high tariff."

Returning from a public event in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Trump noted that the timeline for semiconductor levies was "similar" and "less complicated" to that for pharmaceuticals, though he offered no further details.

These remarks suggest that these import taxes might coincide with broad "reciprocal" rates set for implementation on August 1st.

The August 1st deadline gives targeted countries time to negotiate for lower tariff rates.

Trump, in recent days, has sent letters to a number of trading partners unilaterally dictating the rates for tariffs on many imports, while maintaining he would continue to carry out negotiations.

Trump predicted that he could strike "two or three" trade deals, stating:

"We're working on probably five or six. Of the five or six, I'm not sure I really want to do them. You know, you want somebody that knows how to negotiate. But we'll probably have two or three."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration also announced plans to impose tariffs on goods from smaller countries, including those in the Caribbean and Africa, which have not received tailored rates.

"The Caribbean countries, African countries. You have a huge amount of countries that are small, and the president is just going to deal with them sort of the way he thinks is the right way to deal with them."

Trump also mentioned that while some countries, such as South Korea, had shown a willingness to "open" trade following his threats, others, like Japan, had not.

Moon Ji-young, Arirang News.