Door opened to microchip, pharma tariffs, Trump hints at auto tariff pause
Automakers needed time to relocate production from Canada, Mexico and other places Trump implied. “They need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So I’m talking about things like that,” he said.
When Trump announced the 25% auto tariffs on March 27, he described them as “permanent”.
Shares in Ford, General Motors and Tesla – which had been trading in the red, edged into the green toward the end of the trading day as Trump made his comments.
The Commerce Secretary has initiated the investigations into the national security effects of imports of pharmaceuticals and ingredients, as well as semiconductors and chip-making equipment, according to filings to the Federal Register.
The probes were launched under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, according to the filings, and this was the same legal mechanism that Trump previously used to impose other sector-specific duties.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has unleashed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners – hitting imports from China with especially stiff rates.
He has also imposed a series of sector-specific levies, recently slapping tariffs on imports of steel, aluminium and vehicles.
The Commerce Department’s latest filings call for public comment on pharma and semiconductors imports.
This includes the impact of current trade policies on domestic semiconductor production and capacity, and whether additional measures like tariffs or quotas might be “necessary to protect national security”.
-Agence France-Presse. With reporting by Herald staff
