President Trump said he plans to impose a 50% tariff Tuesday on copper that is brought into the U.S. and, eventually, slap high levies on pharmaceutical imports after a grace period that lets drugmakers onshore operations.
Mr. Trump outlined the forthcoming tariff at a Cabinet meeting as he dispatched highly anticipated letters assigning nation-by-nation tariff rates.
Those tariffs will kick in by August, but the copper tariff is in a different bucket of sector-specific tariffs.
The decision to tax copper imports at 50% follows Mr. Trump’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on cars and car parts brought into the country, plus 50% levies on steel and aluminum.
Further, Mr. Trump said he would make an announcement “very soon” on imported pharmaceuticals. He suggested drugmakers would get a year or so to bring their operations into the U.S. or face a tariff.
“They’re gonna be tariffed at a very, very