Trump says he may impose auto tariffs of around 25%

Washington — President Trump said Tuesday that he could impose hefty tariffs on automobile imports, but said he would have more to say in early April. 

“I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25%,” Mr. Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida.  

The president also mentioned tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductor imports that he said would be “25% and higher — and it’ll go very substantially higher over course of a year.” 

Mr. Trump said he wants to give companies “a little bit of a chance” to set up factories in the U.S. before unveiling the new levies. 

Mr. Trump has threatened sweeping new tariffs, maintaining that they will bolster the U.S. economy over the long term, while acknowledging that they could cause prices to go up for Americans in the short term. 

He has imposed a 10% tariff on all imports from China and ordered 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. He also signed off on 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, but delayed them after both countries announced they would take actions to address the flow of fentanyl over the border into the U.S.