Washington [US], September 26: US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on a wide range of imported goods including pharmaceuticals, heavy trucks and household furniture, in a bid to protect domestic manufacturing.
"We will impose a 50% tariff on all kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, and related products, starting October 1, 2025. Additionally, we will impose a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture," President Trump wrote on Truth Social on the evening of September 25 (morning of September 26, Vietnam time).
Explaining the reason, Mr. Trump said the new tax on kitchen, bathroom and some furniture items was due to the large amount of imports that were harming domestic manufacturers, according to Reuters.
The White House boss also announced a 25% tariff on imported heavy trucks. "To protect our great heavy truck manufacturers from unfair foreign competition, I will impose a 25% tariff on all heavy trucks built elsewhere in the world starting October 1, 2025," Mr. Trump said.Previous tariffs that Mr. Trump has announced, including a 50% tariff on steel, aluminum and copper, have significantly increased costs for American truck manufacturers, according to CNN.
However, the US President said the new tariffs would protect major US truck manufacturers "like Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks and others, from the onslaught of outside disruptions."
"We need our truckers to be financially strong, for many reasons, but above all, for national security purposes," Trump said.
The US Chamber of Commerce on September 25 urged the US Department of Commerce not to impose new truck tariffs, noting that the top five import sources - Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany and Finland - "are all close allies or partners of the US and do not pose any threat to US national security."
In addition, Mr. Trump also announced a new 100% tax on branded or patented drugs from October 1, 2025, except for companies that have started building factories in the US, according to Reuters.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PREMA) has opposed the new drug tariffs, saying that 53% of the $85.6 billion in drug ingredients consumed domestically are produced in the United States, with the rest coming from Europe and other Washington allies.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
