Health Minister Mark Butler has vowed the government will protect Australia’s pharmaceutical benefits scheme despite Donald Trump’s latest announcement of a 100 per cent tariff on imported drugs.

The US President has taken aim at a broad range of imported goods in his new round of punishing tariffs, including heavy-duty trucks, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and upholstered furniture.

In one of a series of announcement on Truth Social, he declared the tariffs would start on October 1.

Trump said a 100 per cent tariff would be imposed on all branded or patented pharmaceutical products entering the US unless the company was building its manufacturing plant in America. 

Shares in Australia’s largest pharmaceutical company, CSL, slumped to 3.6 per cent after the news broke, before retracing some of the losses to sit 1.7 per cent lower by late morning.

The company makes up the bulk of Australia’s $2.2 billion pharmaceutical export trade to the US, but said it was confident it would be exempt from the new tariff because it has a substantial manufacturing footprint in the US.

“CSL will be actively monitoring further announcements from the administration in relation to the detail of the tariffs,” a CSL spokesperson said in a statement.

“As per previous market guidance, we do not expect any material impact from these tariffs.”

Butler said the government was “still working through” Trump’s latest announcement, which comes after Australia has argued that tariff-free trade between the two countries should continue.

“We’re talking to companies who might be impacted by it because obviously there are some qualifications the President mentioned this morning about whether or not a company has some capital investment plans in train in America…,” the Health Minister told reporters in Adelaide.

“But I make this point: None of these latest announcements for the US administration make a jot of difference to our determination to protect the PBS.

“The PBS has served Australians so incredibly well, in terms of providing them with affordable access to the world’s best medicines.

“We are determined to do everything to protect that PBS.”

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America opposed new drug tariffs, saying earlier this year that 53 per cent by value of the $US85.6 billion in ingredients used in medicines consumed in the United States was manufactured in the United States with the remainder from Europe and other US allies.

Trump said the new 25 per cent heavy-duty truck tariffs were to protect manufacturers from “unfair outside competition”, adding the move would benefit companies such as Paccar-owned Peterbilt and Kenworth and Daimler Truck-owned Freightliner.

The new tariffs on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities (50 per cent), and some furniture (30 per cent), were because of huge levels of imports which were hurting local manufacturers, he said.

“The reason for this is the large scale “FLOODING” of these products into the United States by other outside Countries,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The US Chamber of Commerce urged the department not to impose new truck tariffs, noting the top five import sources are Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Finland “all of which are allies or close partners of the United States posing no threat to US national security”.

Mexico is the largest exporter of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to the United States. A study released in January said imports of those larger vehicles from Mexico have tripled since 2019.

Higher tariffs on commercial vehicles could put pressure on transportation costs just as Trump has vowed to reduce inflation, especially on consumer goods such as groceries.

Tariffs could also affect Chrysler-parent Stellantis which produces heavy-duty Ram trucks and commercial vans in Mexico. Sweden’s Volvo Group is building a $US700 million heavy-truck factory in Monterrey, Mexico, due to start operations in 2026.

Mexico is home to 14 manufacturers and assemblers of buses, trucks, and tractor trucks, and two manufacturers of engines, according to the US International Trade Administration.

The country is also the leading global exporter of tractor trucks, 95 per cent of which are destined for the United States.

“We need our Truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!,” Trump added.

Mexico opposed new tariffs, telling the Commerce Department in May that all Mexican trucks exported to the United States have on average 50 per cent US content, including diesel engines.

Last year, the United States imported almost $US128 billion in heavy vehicle parts from Mexico, accounting for approximately 28 per cent of total US imports, Mexico said.

The Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association also opposed new tariffs, saying Japanese companies have cut exports to the United States as they have boosted US production of medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

–with AAP / Reuters