Donald Trump has announced that the United States will implement a 50 percent tariff on copper imports and is considering imposing a 200 percent tariff on pharmaceuticals following a transition period that could extend over a year.
“We’re getting ready to make an announcement regarding pharmaceuticals very soon,” Trump stated during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “We’ll allow people about a year to a year and a half to adjust, and after that time, if pharmaceuticals need to be brought into the country, they will face a substantial tariff, potentially 200 percent.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the US president said that the tariff deadline of August 1 will not be extended.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote:
According to letters sent to various countries yesterday, alongside additional letters scheduled for today, tomorrow, and the upcoming days, TARIFFS WILL COMMENCE ON AUGUST 1, 2025. This start date remains unchanged and will not be modified. Essentially, all payments will become due on AUGUST 1, 2025—there will be no extensions provided. We appreciate your attention to this matter!
Trump on Monday extended the deadline for the tariffs to go into effect by three weeks to just after midnight on August 1, while also announcing tariff rates for more than a dozen of the US’s trading partners.
As countries raced to respond to Trump’s renewed threats, the EU said it hoped to sign a temporary deal with the US this week that would keep tariffs at 10 per cent.
But Germany’s finance minister warned that the bloc stood ready to impose retaliatory measures against the US if the two parties failed to reach a “fair” deal.
Both Japan and South Korea indicated they would try to negotiate, after they were included in letters sent by the US president to 14 trading partners on Monday setting out the tariffs that would come into effect in August.
