Trump says tariffs on cars and pharmaceuticals coming 'in near future'
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More news: Trump said on Monday that tariffs on car imports would be announced “very shortly” and that new pharmaceutical tariffs were also expected “at some point in the not too distant” future.
What they said: “We’ll be announcing cars very shortly … and we’ll be announcing pharmaceuticals at some point in the not too distant future. Because we have to have pharmaceuticals. We don’t make pharmaceuticals anymore in this country,” he said.
We’ll be announcing some of these things in the very near future, not the long future. It will bring billions of dollars … and it will bring in maybe more importantly, jobs. It will protect the jobs we have and it’s going to be really quite amazing.”
Trump’s comments during a Cabinet meeting at the White House follow media reports indicating he is now likely to delay previously proposed sector-specific tariffs from the 2 April date, which he has dubbed “Liberation Day”.
Trump delays Chevron’s Venezuela shutdown deadline amid tariff move
More news: The Trump administration extended Chevron’s deadline to halt its operations in Venezuela to 27 May, after previously giving the company just 30 days from 4 March to wind down its subsidiaries.
The extension followed lobbying efforts by the Texas-based oil giant and a meeting between Chevron Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth and President Donald Trump.
Chevron is the only US oil company still in Venezuela and produces about one-fifth of the nation’s crude output under a waiver from US sanctions. That oil is exported to the United States.
The move comes on the same day Trump announced a 25% “secondary tariff” to take effect from 2 April on any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela on all trade with the United States.
Trump to hit China, Spain, Italy with 25% Venezuela tariff
The news: Donald Trump announced that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela will face a 25% tariff on all trade with the United States from 2 April, citing multiple reasons, including his claim that Venezuela has “purposefully and deceitfully” sent “undercover” criminals to the US.
Citing the arrival of “tens of thousands” of Venezuelan migrants with a “very violent nature,” Trump said on his social media site Truth Social that he was using the post to notify the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol and law enforcement agencies of the move.
The context: China, Venezuela’s largest oil customer, received 55% of its exports in February, Reuters noted. Spain, Italy, Cuba and India are other consumers of Venezuelan oil.
The announcement follows Trump’s move last month to wind down Chevron’s licence to operate in Venezuela and his use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants, who the administration alleges are members of the Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua gang.
On the same date, 2 April, Trump is also expected to announce reciprocal tariffs targeting countries with large trade surpluses and trade barriers. A series of media reports have emerged signalling Trump is now likely to delay previously proposed sector-specific tariffs from that date, which the president has called “Liberation Day”.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent referred to the focus group with the trade surpluses and high trade barriers as the “Dirty 15.” The US Trade Representative Office, calling for public submissions last month, said it was particularly interested in comments identifying unfair trade practices from a set of countries it said covered 88% of total goods trade with the US: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and Vietnam.
What they said: "The United States of America will be putting what is known as a Secondary Tariff on the Country of Venezuela, for numerous reasons, including the fact that Venezuela has purposefully and deceitfully sent to the United States, undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature,” Trump said in the post.
“Any Country that purchases Oil and/or Gas from Venezuela will be forced to pay a Tariff of 25% to the United States on any Trade they do with our Country. All documentation will be signed and registered, and the Tariff will take place on April 2nd, 2025, LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA. Please let this notification serve to represent that the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and all other Law Enforcement Agencies within our Country have been so notified.”
The sources: Donald Trump post, Reuters, Bloomberg, US Department of the Treasury
