WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering imposing tariffs on foreign electronic devices based on the number of chips in each one, according to three people familiar with the matter, as it seeks to drive companies to shift manufacturing to the United States.

According to the plan, which has not previously been reported and could change, the Commerce Department would impose a tariff equal to a percentage of the estimated value of the product’s chip content.

The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“America cannot be reliant on foreign imports for the semiconductor products that are essential for our national and economic security,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai responded when asked about the details.

“The Trump administration is implementing a nuanced, multi-faceted approach to reshoring critical manufacturing back to the United States with tariffs, tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance.”

If implemented, the plan would show the Trump administration is seeking to hit a wide range of consumer products, from toothbrushes to laptops, potentially driving up inflation as it seeks to ramp up US manufacturing.

The plan could push up the cost of consumer goods “at a time when the US has an inflationary problem, with inflation clearly above the Fed’s target and accelerating,” said Michael Strain, an economist with the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The Federal Reserve’s target inflation rate is 2%.

Even domestically produced items would likely become more expensive, thanks to new tariffs on key inputs needed to make those goods, Strain added. 

US President Donald Trump has deployed an array of tariffs aimed at bolstering American manufacturing, announcing on Thursday sweeping new import tariffs, including 100% duties on branded drugs and 25% levies on heavy-duty trucks, triggering fresh trade uncertainty after a period of relative calm.

In April, the Trump administration announced probes into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs on them, arguing that extensive reliance on their foreign production poses a national security threat. 

But questions have swirled about the universe of products containing chips that would be hit by the tariffs, the tariff rates, and whether any countries, products, or companies would be exempt.

Trump said in August the United States would impose a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors but exempted companies that are manufacturing in the US or have committed to do so.

The biggest chipmakers outside the US include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.

One of the sources consulted by Reuters said the Commerce Department was considering a 25% tariff rate for chip-related content in imported devices, with 15% rates for electronics from Japan and the European Union, stressing the figures were preliminary.

The sources added that the Commerce Department has also eyed a dollar-for-dollar exemption based on investment in US-based manufacturing only if a company moves half its production to the US, but it was unclear how it would work or whether it would move forward. The investment exemption was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The Commerce Department had previously proposed to exempt chipmaking tools from the tariffs, three sources said, to avoid raising the cost of producing semiconductors in the United States and undermining Trump’s reshoring goals.

But the people said the White House was displeased by the carve-out, citing Trump’s general distaste for exemptions. — Reuters

NEW YORK — In its 80-year history, the United Nations has never had a woman serve as secretary-general — a fact that some world leaders now view as a glaring symbol of gender inequality at the highest level of global diplomacy.

With Secretary-General Antonio Guterres due to complete his second five-year term at the end of 2026, some at this week’s annual UN General Assembly were vocal in their call for a woman to assume the role.

“It is high time for a woman to be chosen as UN Secretary-General,” said Estonia’s President Alar Karis.

“We need to put forward ambitious selection criteria, a clear timeline and assure greater role of the General Assembly in this process. Given the current credibility crisis of the UN, we cannot afford to fall short in the selection process.”

All nine of those to hold the top job have been men.

‘LET’S MAKE HISTORY,’ SAYS SLOVENIA’S PRESIDENT
Slovenia’s President Nataša Pirc Musar lamented that only five women have held the year-long presidency of the now 193-member General Assembly, including this year.

“By the end of this session, she should be joined by a Madam Secretary-General-elect,” Pirc Musar said. “Let’s make history,” she added.

The 15-member Security Council, including permanent veto powers Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States considers an undisclosed list behind closed doors and recommends a candidate to be elected by the General Assembly.

To boost transparency, the General Assembly in 2015 asked its president and that of the Security Council to invite UN members to nominate candidates. It also called for regular circulation of candidates’ names and CVs to member states.

Mongolia’s President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh said: “Ensuring gender equality in senior leadership positions within the United Nations will undoubtedly have a positive impact on fostering more transparent, balanced and inclusive decision-making processes.”

The next UN Secretary-General will be chosen in 2026 to begin their term on January 1, 2027.

GEOGRAPHICAL DIVERSITY A KEY TO THE APPOINTMENT
Although the job traditionally rotates among regions, when Guterres, who is from Portugal, was elected in 2016, it was supposed to be Eastern Europe’s turn. Next on the list is Latin America, but some diplomats expect candidates from other regions.

“Our region has the diversity, capacity and experience to be able to raise a strong voice for peace, climate justice, human rights, and sustainable development,” said Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader.

“I am fully convinced that the time has come for a woman to take up the post,” said the president of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric said that regional balance must be respected in the appointment process and recommended former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to the role.

“I firmly believe, and I know that this conviction is shared by my nation, that Michelle Bachelet is someone able to build bridges between the North and the South, between the East and the West,” Boric said as Bachelet watched on from the audience.

Bachelet was Chile’s first female head of state and served as president of the South American nation twice. She was also Chile’s minister for health and defense. Bachelet has also been the executive director of UN Women and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“It’s time for Latin America and the Caribbean to have their moment,” he said, adding that the region is free of war and rich in diplomatic tradition.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, who is Argentinian, has said he plans to seek the job. — Reuters

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled a fresh round of punishing tariffs on a broad range of imported goods, including 100% duties on branded drugs and 25% levies on heavy-duty trucks, set to come into force next week.

The latest salvo, which Trump said was to protect the US manufacturing industry and national security, follows sweeping duties on trading partners of up to 50% and other targeted levies on imported products such as steel.

The barrage has cast a pall over global growth and paralyzed business decision-making around the world, while the Federal Reserve has said it is also contributing to higher consumer prices in America.

Trump’s latest announcements on Truth Social did not mention whether the new levies would stack on top of existing national tariffs. But recently struck trade deals with Japan, the EU, and the United Kingdom include provisions that cap tariffs for specific products like pharmaceuticals.

Tokyo said it was still analyzing the potential impact of the new measures, which Canberra called “unfair” and “unjustified”.

Trump also followed through on a pledge to “bring back” America’s furniture business, saying he would start charging a 50% tariff on imported kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities and a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture. All the new duties take effect from October 1.

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

Stocks of pharmaceutical companies across Asia fell as investors reacted to the news, with Australia’s CSL hitting a six-year low, Japan’s Sumitomo PharmaT tumbling more than 3% and pharmaceutical indices in Hong Kong and India down more than 1%.

An index tracking Chinese-listed furniture makers also dropped around 1%.

The new actions are seen as part of the Trump administration’s shift to better-established legal authorities for its tariff actions, given the risks associated with a case before the Supreme Court on the legality of his sweeping global tariffs.

The new 100% tariff on any branded or patented pharmaceutical product will apply to all imports unless the company has already broken ground on building a manufacturing plant in the United States, Trump said.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group, said companies “continue to announce hundreds of billions in new US investments. Tariffs risk those plans.”

The Trump administration has opened a dozen probes into the national security ramifications of imports of wind turbines, airplanes, semiconductors, polysilicon, copper, timber and lumber and critical minerals to form the basis of new tariffs.

Trump this week announced new probes into personal protective equipment, medical items, robotics and industrial machinery. He previously imposed national security tariffs on steel and aluminum and derivatives, light-duty autos and parts, and copper.

FOREIGN POLICY TOOL
Trump has made the levies a key foreign policy tool, using them to renegotiate trade deals, extract concessions and exert political pressure on other countries.

His administration has played down the impact on consumer prices and touted tariffs as a significant revenue source, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying Washington could collect $300 billion by the end of the year.

Some economies that have already struck deals may get a reprieve on the latest duties.
The EU’s deal with the US stipulates it will pay a 15% tariff on goods including pharmaceuticals, while Japan has an agreement that its tariff rates will not exceed others including the EU, Tokyo’s trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Friday.

Akazawa declined to comment directly on the new measures, adding Tokyo was still assessing how they related to their existing deal.

In Australia, Health Minister Mark Butler told reporters the government was working to understand the implications of the new “unfair, unjustified tariffs after 20 years of free trade.”

More than half of the $85.6 billion in ingredients used in medicines consumed in the United States are manufactured in the US, with the remainder from Europe and other US allies, the US pharmaceutical trade group said earlier this year.

When it comes to furniture, imports to the United States hit $25.5 billion in 2024, up 7% from the year prior. About 60% of those imports came from Vietnam and China, according to Furniture Today, a trade publication.

“Many of our members were shocked when we heard the news. I think the decision on the additional tariff is unfair,” said Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai from the Wood and Handicraft Association of Dong Nai province, one of Vietnam’s largest furniture clusters.

Trump in August had promised to impose new furniture tariffs, saying it “will bring the Furniture Business back” to North Carolina, South Carolina and Michigan.

Furniture and wood products manufacturing employment in the US has halved since 2000 to around 340,000 today, according to government statistics.

INFLATION PRESSURE
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.

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

The US Chamber of Commerce earlier 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, the largest truck exporter, has opposed new tariffs, telling the Commerce Department in May that all Mexican trucks exported to the United States have on average 50% US content, including diesel engines. Chrysler-parent Stellantis is among many companies that produces trucks in Mexico.

Last year, the United States imported almost $128 billion in heavy vehicle parts from Mexico, accounting for approximately 28% of total US imports in the category, Mexico said. — Reuters