by Daniel Brouse
July 8, 2025
At a cabinet meeting today, President Trump announced that his administration has finalized a 50% tariff on imported copper, which will go into effect later this month, and is considering imposing a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals in the coming weeks.
These drastic moves will have severe ripple effects across the U.S. economy:
Copper is critical for electrical systems, construction, clean energy, and manufacturing. A 50% tariff will raise costs for infrastructure projects, slow the clean energy transition, and increase prices for housing, electronics, and consumer goods. This will further fuel inflation at a time when many Americans are already struggling with high living expenses.
Pharmaceuticals are essential to public health, and a 200% tariff would directly increase the cost of imported medications. Instead of reducing drug prices and easing burdens on families, seniors, and those with chronic conditions, this move would exponentially increase healthcare costs across the country. Pharmaceutical companies will likely pass these costs directly to consumers, leading to higher insurance premiums, increased out-of-pocket expenses, and further strain on Medicare, Medicaid, and hospital systems.
These tariffs risk triggering retaliatory trade measures from key partners, worsening global supply chain disruptions, and increasing shortages of critical medical and industrial supplies.
In summary, these policies will:
* Increase inflation in housing, energy, healthcare, and consumer sectors.
* Raise medication costs, worsening public health burdens and financial stress on families.
* Slow renewable energy deployment due to higher copper costs.
* Harm American competitiveness while damaging global trade relationships.
* Disproportionately hurt low- and middle-income Americans while failing to address the true causes of inflation.
At a time when the economy is showing signs of stress, these actions will do the opposite of providing relief, risking long-term damage to American competitiveness while endangering public health and financial stability.
Instead of addressing structural issues with healthcare pricing, supply chain resilience, and clean energy investment, these tariffs will further destabilize an already fragile economy—pushing the U.S. closer to permanent decline and the end of U.S. exceptionalism.