Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a new round of tariffs targeting foreign-made trucks, furniture, cabinets and pharmaceutical products, saying the measures are needed to protect U.S. manufacturing and national security.
The highest penalty will apply to pharmaceutical products, which Trump said would face a 100 percent tariff unless companies begin producing them in the United States.
“‘IS BUILDING’ will be defined as, ‘breaking ground’ and/or ‘under construction,’” Trump posted on Truth Social. “There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started.”
The administration also set a 50 percent tariff on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and related products, and a 30 percent tariff on imported furniture beginning Oct. 1.
“The reason for this is the large scale ‘FLOODING’ of these products into the United States by other outside Countries,” Trump wrote in a separate post. “It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for national security and other reasons, our manufacturing process.”
The new tariffs also extend to heavy trucks built overseas, which will be subject to a 25 percent duty starting Oct. 1.
“In order to protect our Great Heavy Truck Manufacturers from unfair outside competition, I will be imposing, as of October 1st, 2025, a 25% Tariff on all ‘Heavy (Big!) Trucks’ made in other parts of the World. Therefore, our Great Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions. We need our Truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!” he wrote.
The moves come as the Supreme Court agreed earlier this month to take up a high-stakes case over President Donald Trump’s power to impose sweeping tariffs, granting an unusually quick hearing that could reshape presidential authority over trade, RSBN previously reported.
The justices scheduled arguments for November, a pace far faster than the court typically allows. Both the Trump administration and the small businesses and states challenging the tariffs had urged an expedited timetable.
Opponents of the tariffs argue that Trump unlawfully used emergency powers to levy import taxes on goods from nearly every country, nearly pushing some businesses to bankruptcy. Two lower courts have ruled that most of the tariffs were illegally imposed, though a divided appeals court allowed them to remain in effect.
The administration asked the justices to step in swiftly, warning that the nation was on “the brink of economic catastrophe” if the president is prevented from exercising broad tariff authority. Officials said the law grants him the power to regulate imports without congressional approval.
