Up to 100%! Trump Announces Fresh Tariffs on Heavy Trucks, Furniture, and Pharmaceuticals

September 26 — On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a new suite of import duties, representing his latest escalation of global trade tensions. According to reports from CCTV News and other outlets, on September 25 local time Trump used his Truth Social platform to announce that, effective October 1, 2025, the United States will impose a 25% tariff on all imported heavy trucks, a 50% levy on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and related building materials, a 30% duty on imported furniture, and a 100% tariff on patented and branded pharmaceuticals.

In a series of three consecutive posts, Trump outlined these measures. In his first message, he explained that the 25% truck tariff is designed to protect domestic manufacturers such as Peterbilt, Kenworth and Freightliner from unfair foreign competition, noting that financially strong truck drivers are critical to national security. His second post emphasized that the steep duties on kitchen and bathroom fixtures, as well as general furniture imports, are necessary to safeguard U.S. manufacturing processes from a flood of overseas products. The final announcement targeted pharmaceuticals, stipulating that beginning October 1, 2025, any branded or patented medication imported into the United States will face a 100% tariff unless the producer has already broken ground on or is constructing a U.S.-based manufacturing facility.

Heavy trucks, furniture and pharmaceuticals join automobiles, electronics and metals as recent focus areas of Trump’s tariff strategy. The administration’s latest actions affect key trading partners: the top five exporters of heavy trucks to the U.S. are Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany and Finland, while major sources of pharmaceutical imports include Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and India.
In a parallel development, on September 24 the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security published two Federal Register notices announcing that, as of September 2, Section 232 investigations have been launched into imported robots, industrial machinery and medical equipment—a clear signal of potential future tariffs in those sectors.