US President Donald Trump on Friday announced a sweeping new tariff policy, declaring that from October 1, 2025, all branded and patented pharmaceutical imports will face a 100 per cent tariff unless their manufacturers are actively building production facilities in the United States.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump clarified that “IS BUILDING” will mean breaking ground or being under construction. Companies that have already begun plant construction in the US will be exempt from the new tariff.
The move extends Trump’s tariff-heavy trade agenda to the pharmaceutical industry for the first time, alongside additional duties on a range of household goods. Trump announced a 50 per cent tariff on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and related products, as well as a 30 per cent tariff on upholstered furniture, also effective October 1.
Furniture costs have already risen sharply amid earlier tariff hikes, with living and dining room furniture prices up 9.5 per cent year-on-year, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. China and Vietnam, which exported USD 12 billion worth of furniture and fixtures to the US last year, have been the primary targets of these measures.
Trump defended the tariffs as essential to protect US industry from “large-scale flooding” of imports. “It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for national security and other reasons, our manufacturing process,” he said.
The latest announcement follows new tariff schedules rolled out in August, which included: 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods (with an added 25 per cent penalty for trade with Russia), 50 per cent on Brazilian goods, 30 per cent on South African goods, 20 per cent on Vietnamese goods, and 15 per cent each on Japanese and South Korean goods.
The administration argues that the new measures will restore US manufacturing capacity, though critics warn they could further inflate consumer prices in the coming months.