Trump enacts tariffs on trucks, furniture, pharmaceuticals

President Donald Trump planned to protect the American heavy truck manufacturing industry by levying a 25% tariff on all foreign-made freight trucks, according to a Thursday night statement. American companies like Mack Trucks and Freightliner must be protected from outside interruptions for truckers to remain strong and healthy, he said.

About 20 minutes later, the president announced a 50% tariff on imported home installation furniture, like kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, along with a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture. Foreign-made furniture is unfairly flooding the United States, Trump said. American manufacturing must be protected, he added. About 15 minutes later, Trump released a third statement announcing a 100% tariff on all branded or patented pharmaceuticals shipped into the country.

The government would start enforcing the new tariffs on Wednesday, Oct. 1. Trump noted that pharmaceutical companies actively building manufacturing facilities in America would be exempt from the new tariff. The exemption only applies to companies that have broken ground and actually started construction, not just companies with plans, according to the president.

How are people responding?

• Australian Health Minister Mark Butler described the new pharmaceutical tariff as unfair and unjustified. Australian leaders are talking with U.S. officials, making a case to keep the tariff-free relationship both countries have enjoyed for over 20 years, Butler said Friday. He added that Australia buys much more pharma products from the United States, and it’s not in the American consumer’s interest to start taxing its Australian imports.

• Advancing American Freedom, a conservative advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, slammed the new trucking tariffs in a Friday morning statement. Leaders in Washington are making Americans’ lives more expensive one tariff at a time, the group said.

• Long-standing American businesses have been devastated by China illegally flooding subsidized kitchen cabinets into the United States, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., wrote early Friday morning. Britt celebrated the administration’s action, noting she petitioned for them earlier this year.

Trump announced the new tariffs hours after signing the “Saving TikTok While Protecting National Security” executive order, allowing an American business group to take control of the video-sharing app formerly under Chinese ownership.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report for more about Trump’s order taking American control of TikTok.