Trump to Hit Drugs, Furniture, Cabinets, and Trucks With New Import Taxes
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration will roll out sweeping new import tariffs beginning October 1 — targeting pharmaceutical drugs, home furnishings, and heavy trucks.
The new duties will include a 100% tax on pharmaceutical imports, 50% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 30% on upholstered furniture, and 25% on heavy trucks. Trump defended the move as part of his ongoing tariff strategy to revive U.S. manufacturing and reduce the federal deficit.
“Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. He also argued that new taxes on kitchen cabinets and sofas were necessary “for National Security and other reasons.”
The U.S. imported nearly $233 billion in pharmaceuticals last year, raising immediate concerns about whether the tariffs could lead to sharp price hikes for medicine. Trump clarified that the pharmaceutical tariffs would not apply to companies currently building or breaking ground on new U.S. plants.
The business community and some economists warned of unintended fallout. Pascal Chan of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce said the changes could trigger “immediate price hikes, strained insurance systems, hospital shortages, and the real risk of patients rationing or foregoing essential medicines.” Homebuilders also worry that steeper cabinet costs will worsen affordability in an already strained housing market.
The tariffs arrive at a time when inflation has been ticking higher, with the Consumer Price Index rising 2.9% over the past 12 months. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has warned that goods prices, especially imports, are driving much of the increase. Trump, however, has insisted “there’s no inflation,” maintaining that tariffs are a winning formula for American industry.
Still, manufacturing job losses have mounted in recent months, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 42,000 fewer factory positions since April. Builders have also cut 8,000 jobs during the same period. Trump acknowledged that tariffs against China previously hurt American farmers but pledged to divert tariff revenues to support agriculture, as he did during his first term.
“We’re having unbelievable success,” Trump told reporters Thursday, brushing aside warnings that consumers could bear the brunt of the costs.