The president of the United States, Donald Trump, resurrected a tariff passion on Thursday night that seemed to be asleep in recent weeks to announce new barriers to imports. This time not to this country, but to certain products, such as drugs that do not occur in the United States (100%), kitchen furniture and bath dressers (50%) and heavy trucks “large! Manufactured in other parts of the world” (25%).
The ads made them Trump, as usual, in his social network, Truth, and taking almost all offsembled. First it was the post About trucks. He said he did it “for many reasons, but above all, for national security reasons!” Then it was the turn of the kitchen and bathroom furniture, to which he added the announcement of a 30% tax to the “upholstered furniture”, and the reason and the deadline were the same.
Neither products seemed until Thursday at Trump’s point, which has put tariffs or threatened to put them to a varied sample of goods. Regarding the third remittance of affected products, medicines, he had spoken widely since his return to the White House. In his message in Truth, he made the exception for those drugs whose companies “are building a plant in the United States.”
Ireland and Switzerland
This summer, the Trump administration had already imposed a 15% tariff on most pharmaceutical products from the European Union, as part of a broader frame that puts the relationship between the two most intense commercial ties partners in the world.
When that agreement with Brussels was reached at the end of July, it was not clear in what place the medications remained, although Trump said a few days after those rates would already specify, that they would be low initially, but that they would increase to the
Although there are doubts about how the lien will definitely be, the starting point has been higher than it then made you think. With a country of the 27 among the most affected: Ireland, since almost half of its exports to the US are medications. Also Germany, although, given the largest size of its economy, these products have a lower weight.
Outside the EU, Switzerland is the one who plays it most with these levies. Although, as in the case of its European neighbors, it is not clear if the new tariff will apply or not to its pharmaceutical production, this country has two giants in this sector (Novartis and Roche) that have one of its main markets in the US. Both companies, however, already have an important part of their production on American soil. And they have announced important investments there to avoid tariffs that seemed discounted: it was a matter of time.
Thursday those enter the category of sector rates with which Trump has slapped cars manufacturers or aluminum, steel or copper producers (all of them with 50%).
On the other hand there are the tariffs that Trump insists on calling “reciprocal”, because he considers that with them he answers decades of abuse to the United States by their commercial partners. These vary from country to country, as part of a list that sometimes seemed governed by the whim.
They are worth some examples: 20%. Iraq and Switzerland?: 35% and 39%, respectively. Myanmar and Laos, 40%, and Syria 41%. The worst punishment is taken by Brazil and India, with 50% for all exports to the United States. In retaliation, respectively, by the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, a friend of Trump, and for mass purchases of Russian oil by New Delhi.
