Washington, July 16
US President Donald Trump has said his administration might start imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical imports at the end of the month, while noting the timeline for duties on semiconductors was "similar" to that of those on pharmaceuticals.
Trump made the remarks, suggesting that his administration will phase in the tariffs on pharmaceuticals to allow time for companies to construct their production facilities in the United States, reports news agency.
"Probably at the end of the month and we are going to start off with a low tariff and give pharmaceutical companies a year or so to build, and then we're going to make it a very high tariff," he said during a press availability after returning from a public event in Pittsburgh.
Trump also said his timeline for implementing tariffs on semiconductors was “similar” and that it was “less complicated” to impose levies on chips, without providing additional detail.
Last week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the Trump administration will complete its national security probes into semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports at the end of this month -- an indication that Trump's tariff announcements on the imports might be approaching.