Trump hits pharma with 100% drug tariffs, slaps 25% on heavy trucks

Donald Trump dropped two major tariff bombshells Thursday, announcing that all branded or patented drugs shipped into the U.S. will be hit with a 100% tariff starting October 1, while imported heavy-duty trucks will face a 25% duty on the same day.

The new moves were revealed by the White House via Trump’s posts on Truth Social and they’re aimed at forcing companies to build inside the U.S. or deal with costly consequences.

But not every company is treated the same. The new drug tariffs won’t apply to pharmaceutical firms that are already building drug plants in America. If the company has started construction—even if it’s just breaking ground—their drugs will be exempt.

“There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started,” Trump posted. The rule applies to all branded or patented drugs, meaning those protected by intellectual property rights and sold under trade names, blocking generic versions from competing until the patents run out.

Trump raises tariffs to push factories back to the U.S.

Trump said the goal is simple: bring drug production back home. And it’s not an empty threat. U.S. drug manufacturing has declined sharply over the years, but companies like Eli Lilly, AbbVie, and Johnson & Johnson have already started investing in domestic plants. 

Trump is trying to accelerate that change with financial pressure. For him, it’s about getting manufacturing jobs out of overseas labs and back into American factories.

That same logic is being used on trucks. Just hours after the pharma announcement, Trump said he’s hitting imported “Heavy (big!) Trucks” with a 25% tariff, also effective from October 1. He said the trucks are hurting U.S. companies and called the move necessary to protect national security.

“Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions,” he wrote on Truth Social. These U.S.-based truck builders are expected to gain an edge over foreign competition once the tariffs kick in.

Just a day earlier, the Department of Commerce said it launched new national security probes into imports of robotics, industrial equipment, and medical devices. And this isn’t limited to machines. The investigation now covers personal protective gear, including N95 masks, surgical gloves, syringes, needles, and other medical supplies.

Any new duties from these sector-specific probes would stack on top of Trump’s country-specific tariffs, multiplying the cost for foreign manufacturers. However, both Japan and the European Union have made agreements that may keep them safe from additional fees.

Asia markets slide as Trump widens tariff dragnet

The global markets didn’t sit quietly. Japan’s Topix Pharma Index dropped 1.47% immediately after the announcement. Major Japanese drugmakers like Daiichi Sankyo and Chugai Pharmaceutical fell 2.11% and 3.64%, while Sumitomo Pharma took a heavier hit, plunging 5.33%. In South Korea, big names like Samsung Biologics dropped 1.71%, and SK Bio Pharmaceuticals tumbled 3.71%.

The hits kept coming. In Hong Kong, Alibaba Health Information Technology fell 2.92%, and JD Health lost 2.23%, both pulling the market down. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stayed flat, but the Topix index managed a 0.59% gain, reaching a new all-time high.

Investors were also reacting to new inflation numbers from Tokyo, where core inflation came in at 2.5%, lower than the 2.8% economists expected. The headline number was steady at 2.5%. Tokyo’s stats often signal where national inflation is headed.

South Korea’s Kospi index posted the biggest loss in the region, falling 2.02%, while the smaller Kosdaq shed 1.57%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 hovered just below flat.

Over in China, the CSI 300 stayed flat, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.86%, showing that the tariff shock was felt widely across Asia-Pacific.