U.S. President Donald Trump said he could apply a higher tariff rate to semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, which have good margins, than to automobiles (25%).
On the 16th (local time), as Trump left the White House for a visit to the United Kingdom, he was asked by a reporter, "There are concerns that if you lower the automobile tariff from 25% to 15%, U.S. carmakers will be hurt. What do you think?" He answered, "I haven't compromised on anything," and said the same.
Specifically, he emphasized that he was the one who first imposed a 25% tariff on automobiles, saying, "They paid no tariff for years. Now they are paying 15%, and some things could pay more tariffs."
He went on, "Semiconductors could pay more, and pharmaceuticals could pay more. Semiconductors and pharmaceuticals have higher margins (than automobiles)." Trump previously said he would impose "fairly substantial tariffs" on semiconductors, at one point mentioning up to 100%. He also mentioned a higher 150%–250% for pharmaceuticals.
On the tariff lawsuit to be heard by the Supreme Court, he said, "All the legal experts say we won that case, but we still have to see," adding, "I think the Supreme Court is very fair." The U.S. Supreme Court consists of nine justices, six of whom are conservative.
On options for disposing of Chinese video platform TikTok, he said, "We have reached an agreement with China. On Friday (the 19th), I will speak with President Xi Jinping and try to finalize everything," adding that there are "very large corporations" that want to acquire TikTok's business rights in the United States.