President Donald Trump’s administration is ramping up probes into U.S. semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports this week, the latest sign that Trump plans to hit the sectors with tariffs.
Monday filings with the Federal Register announced 21-day public comment periods for probes into both sets of imports. Trump’s administration has argued that tariffs are necessary in order to secure domestic production of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors for national security reasons.
“We don’t make our own pharmaceuticals, drugs and other things to get better. They’re made in other countries and you pay a number. I mean, the same package in our country compared to, like, London and other places is sometimes 10 times more, 10 times more. Something that sells for $88 in London, sells for $1,300 here, made in the same factory by the same company. And that’s over,” Trump said last week.
“We’re going to tariff our pharmaceuticals. And once we do that, they’re going to come rushing back into our country, because we’re a big market. The advantage we have over everybody, is that we’re the big market,” he added.
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Trump also set his sights on semiconductors on Sunday, saying tariff levels would be announced within the week.
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“We wanted to uncomplicate it from a lot of other companies, because we want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country,” Trump told reporters while aboard Air Force One on Sunday night.
In January alone, the U.S. experienced a negative trade balance in the semiconductor sector of $322 million – exporting $521 million and importing $843 million, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
“In case of war, in case of whatever, we’re not relying on China and various other countries to supply us with drugs, which is not a good idea, and it’ll happen very fast,” the president said.
Trump specifically called out Ireland for “taking” U.S. pharmaceutical companies in March when he hosted Irish premier Micheál Martin.
“The Irish are smart, yes, smart people,” Trump said. “You took our pharmaceutical companies and other companies … This beautiful island of 5 million people has got the entire U.S. pharmaceutical industry in its grasps.”
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“When the pharmaceutical companies started to go to Ireland, I would have said that’s OK, if you want to go to Ireland. I think that’s great. But if you want to sell anything into the United States, I’m going to put a 200% tariff on you so you’re never going to be able to sell anything into the United States,” Trump added at the time. “You know what they would have done? They would have stayed here.”
Fox News’ Emma Colton and Reuters contributed to this report
