President Donald Trump is upping the ante with tariffs, promising new import duties on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
During a phone interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Trump said he’d raise import duties on computer chips and drugs, potentially up to 250% to drive manufacturing in those industries back into the U.S.
“[Switzerland] makes a fortune with pharmaceuticals, and they make our pharmaceuticals in China and Ireland and everything else, and within the next week or so we’re going to be announcing tariffs,” Trump said.
.@POTUS: “Within the next week or so, we’re going to be announcing tariffs on pharmaceuticals… We want pharmaceuticals made in our country.” pic.twitter.com/KNiwsPbPH2
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 5, 2025
He recounted a conversation with Swiss Confederation President Karin Keller-Sutter, saying she wanted a 1% tariff despite holding a $41 billion trade surplus with the United States. Switzerland, home to a large pharmaceutical industry, is not part of the European Union and thus will negotiate its own trade pact with Trump.
Trump mentioned both pharmaceuticals and semiconductors in the interview, at times darting rapidly back and forth between them. He mentioned a $300 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility to be made in Arizona, and then said that pharmaceutical tariffs would start small before growing rather large by the end of next year.
“We’ll be putting a initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals,” the president said. “But in one year, one-and-a-half years maximum, it’s gonna go to 150%. And then it’s gonna go to 250%, because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country.”
The president has been fulfilling his decades-long ambition to hike import tariffs since retaking office in January, implementing blanket tariffs of at least 10% on countries around the world and sector tariffs on specific industries, such as steel and aluminum, that can reach 50% or more.
During the interview, Trump also claimed that he would end banking discrimination against conservatives, saying JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America rejected him despite his substantial net worth.
“The banks discriminated against me very badly,” Trump said. “And I was very good to the banks.”
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Trump said that he’d spoken to other conservatives who also faced discrimination, and implied that former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, or their aides were behind it.
“I believe they told the banking commission, the bankers, the banking regulators, ‘Do everything you can to destroy Trump,’” he said. “And that’s what they did. And guess what? I’m president. How did that happen?”