President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a new round of punitive tariffs, saying that the United States will impose a 100% tariff to imported brand medications, a 25% tariff to import imports of heavy trucks and a 50% tariff to kitchen cabinets.
Trump also said he would begin to apply a 30% tariff to upholstered furniture next week.
He said that the new tariffs on heavy trucks were to protect the manufacturers of the “unfair external competition” and added that the measure would benefit companies such as Peterbilt and Kenworth, owned by Paccar, and Freightliner, owned by Daimler Truck.
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Trump has launched numerous national security research on possible new tariffs on a wide variety of products.
He said that the new tariffs on the kitchen cabinets, bathroom and some furniture were due to the huge levels of imports that were harming local manufacturers.
“The reason for this is the large scale of the ‘flood’ of these products in the United States by other external countries,” Trump said, citing national security concerns about manufacturing in the US. UU.
The US Chamber of Commerce urged the department not to impose new tariffs, noting that the five main import sources are Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany and Finland, “all of which are allies or close partners of the United States, and do not represent any threat to the National Security of US.”
Mexico, the largest truck exporter to the US
Mexico is the largest exporter of medium and heavy trucks to the United States. A study published in January said that imports of these largest vehicles since Mexico have tripled since 2019.
Higher tariffs on commercial vehicles could press transport costs just when Trump has promised to reduce inflation, especially in consumer goods such as food.
Tariffs could also affect Stellantis, Chrysler’s parent company, which produces RAM heavy trucks and commercial vans in Mexico. The Volvo de Sweden Group is building a heavy truck factory of 700 million dollars in Monterrey, Mexico, which will begin operations in 2026.
Mexico houses 14 manufacturers and assemblies of bus, trucks and tractocamions, and two motion manufacturers, according to the US International Trade Administration.
The country is also the main world exporter of tractocamions, 95% of which are destined to the United States.
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“We need our truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all, for reasons of national security,” Trump added.
Mexico opposed the new tariffs, telling the Department of Commerce in May that all Mexican trucks exported to the United States have an average of 50% of American content, including diesel engines.
Last year, EU imported almost 128 billion dollars in heavy vehicles from Mexico, which represented approximately 28% of the total imports of the US, according to Mexico.
The Association of Automobile Manufacturers of Japan also opposed the new tariffs, saying that Japanese companies have reduced exports to the United States while increasing the production of medium and heavy trucks in the US.
With Reuters information.
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