The new tariffs are to be introduced on October 1 and include, among other things, a surcharge of 100 percent on patented medicines and 25 percent on heavy trucks.
However, according to Trump, companies will be able to be exempted if they build factories in the USA.
The message has so far only been announced via Trump's platform Truth Social. According to Elisabet Kopelman, it is therefore currently difficult to know exactly how the tariffs will affect.
Uncertain tariff landscape
It's always the case that the devil is in the details. We do not know what other exceptions there will be, or if these tariffs will be added on top of the country's tariffs, she says.
In the USA, a legal process is underway that can declare Trump's country tariffs illegal. Something that does not necessarily have to be seen as positive, Kopelman means, because it means that the USA can instead introduce more tariffs for different industries.
But it means that we are left in this very uncertain tariff landscape. And it is important for companies to be able to put this behind them now, she says.
Truck manufacturer Volvo has had production in the USA for 40 years and, according to press secretary Claes Eliasson, looks "with good will" at the new messages.
Generally, we interpret this as an attempt to remove the comparative disadvantage of producing in the USA compared to Mexico.
According to Eliasson, truck manufacturers with production in Mexico, unlike Volvo, have been exempt from paying tariffs on a range of components that need to be imported.
Important to act
Sofia Wallström, CEO of the industry organization for research-based pharmaceutical companies (Lif), says that Trump's message about medicine tariffs shows the importance for Europe to strengthen its competitiveness
Unfortunately, we see warning signs where pharmaceutical companies are now pausing or discontinuing investments in European countries and instead placing them in the USA, so it is incredibly important that we act quickly now and do not just blame the USA but see this as an investment for us, she says.
According to a statement from the EU Commission, medicines are included in the tariff ceiling of 15 percent that the union and the USA have negotiated.
Trump has also announced 50 percent tariffs on kitchen and bathroom fixtures and 30 percent on upholstered furniture.
