WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will put import taxes of 100% on pharmaceutical drugs, 50% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 30% on upholstered furniture and 25% on heavy trucks starting on Oct. 1.

The posts on his social media site showed that Trump’s devotion to tariffs did not end with the trade frameworks and import taxes that were launched in August, a reflection of the president’s confidence that taxes will help to reduce the government’s budget deficit while increasing domestic manufacturing.

While Trump did not provide a legal justification for the tariffs, he appeared to stretch the bounds of his role as commander-in-chief by stating on Truth Social that the taxes on imported kitchen cabinets and sofas were needed “for National Security and other reasons.”

Under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the administration launched a Section 232 investigation in April about the impacts on national security from pharmaceutical drug and truck imports. The Commerce Department launched a 232 investigation into timber and lumber in March, though it’s unclear whether the furniture tariffs stem from that.

The tariffs are another dose of uncertainty for the U.S. economy with a solid stock market but a weakening outlook for jobs and elevated inflation. These new taxes on imports could pass through to consumers in the form of higher prices and dampen hiring, a process that economic data suggests is already underway.

“We have begun to see goods prices showing through into higher inflation,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned in a recent news conference, adding that higher costs for goods account for “most” or potentially “all” of the increase in inflation levels this year.

The president has pressured Powell to resign, arguing that the Fed should cut its benchmark interest rates more aggressively because inflation is no longer a concern. Fed officials have stayed cautious on rate cuts because of the uncertainty created by tariffs.

Trump said on Truth Social that the pharmaceutical tariffs would not apply to companies that are building manufacturing plants in the United States, which he defined as either “breaking ground” or being “under construction.” It was unclear how the tariffs would apply to companies that already have factories in the U.S.

In 2024, America imported nearly $233 billion in pharmaceutical and medicinal products, according to the Census Bureau. The prospect of prices doubling for some medicines could send shock waves to voters as health care expenses, as well as the costs of Medicare and Medicaid, potentially increase.

The pharmaceutical drug announcement was shocking as Trump has previously suggested that tariffs would be phased in over time so that companies had time to build factories and relocate production. On CNBC in August, Trump said he would start by charging a “small tariff” on pharmaceuticals and raise the rate over a year or more to 150% and even 250%.

According to the White House, the threat of tariffs earlier this year contributed to many major pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly, among others, to announce investments in U.S. production.

Pascal Chan, vice president for strategic policy and supply chains at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, warned that the tariffs could harm Americans’ health with “immediate price hikes, strained insurance systems, hospital shortages, and the real risk of pa

CAMERON MARTINEZ
Skagit Valley Herald, Mount Vernon, Wash.
(TNS)

CONCRETE — The Concrete Town Council gave Fire Chief Jaesen Meacham permission Monday to spend up to $120,000 for the purchase of a fire engine and equipment that will meet National Fire Protection Association standards.

The Concrete Volunteer Fire Department has been borrowing a fire engine from the Skagit County Regional Fire Authority since May.

Meacham wants to purchase an engine for Concrete because if the fire authority has a failure on one of its engines, it would take back the one being used by Concrete.

The town authorized a reallocation of $50,000 from the General Reserve Fund and $70,000 of the total $85,000 associated with the fire department’s budget for the purchase of the engine and equipment.

Mayor Marla Reed and town Clerk Treasurer Andrea Fichter must approve the purchase.

Concrete’s next Town Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 6. For more information, visit townofconcrete.com.

© 2025 the Skagit Valley Herald (Mount Vernon, Wash.). Visit www.goskagit.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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A vehicle crashed into Ferguson (MO) Fire Station 2 Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, damaging the building and a pumper, the department said in a Facebook post.

At approximately 1:25 p.m. Wednesday, a vehicle collided with Ferguson Fire Department Station 2, located on West Florissant Avenue, the post said.

Firefighters were inside the station at the time of the incident and immediately provided medical care to the driver, who was transported to a local hospital. Crews from Station 2 and Station 1 worked together to secure the vehicle in place and safely extricate the occupant.

The engine bay of Station 2 sustained damage as a result of the collision. In addition, Pumper 3024, the engine housed at Station 2, was damaged by debris.

“We are grateful to report that no firefighters were injured,” the post said. “While the station and apparatus did sustain damage, Fire House 2 remains open and operational, and emergency response capabilities have not been interrupted.

“We extend our sincere thanks to all personnel on scene. Ferguson Police Department, City Of Ferguson, City of Ferguson Municipal Services, and Christian Hospital EMS.”

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Special Delivery Alan M. Petrillo

The Bentonville (AR) Fire Department has an unusual assortment of buildings, structures, and industrial facilities in its coverage area.

The city is home to Walmart headquarters, warehouses, and distribution centers as well as the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, NorthWest Arkansas Community College, and apartment complexes seven to nine stories tall.

Justin Scantlin, Bentonville’s chief, says that the fire department didn’t have a training facility that could prepare firefighters for the potential scenarios they might face, so the department received approval from the city to build a training facility that would mimic the various situations firefighters might encounter. “We traveled around and looked at a number of different types of training facilities,” Scantlin says, “and ultimately decided to go with Fire Facilities and a five-story tower with a traditional switchback staircase that is similar to what we find in many of our town’s multistory structures. We also wanted an additional section that could mimic a residential structure and also a Class A burn structure.”

Scantlin continues, “We also wanted an outside staircase that’s a different pitch from the tower stairway to give us as much versatility as possible to reflect what we find in various parts of town. We also wanted narrower hallways that would reflect what we see in our residential construction.”

1 Fire Facilities built this 7,860-square-foot five-story fire training tower for the Bentonville (AR) Fire Department. [Photos courtesy of the Bentonville (AR) Fire Department.]

2 Firefighters train on a propane burn prop on the second floor of the tower.

Zach Willard, general manager of Fire Facilities, says Bentonville chose his company’s Commissioner model of training tower that has five stories, a residential section, and a burn room annex. “Bentonville’s tower is a good example of how you can have lots of functionality in a big tower,” Willard points out. “We figured out how we could customize the tower and put in more features for them without increasing the size.”

Willard says that Bentonville’s training facility is 7,860 square feet with 12 burn rooms on the first, second, and third floors of the complex. “All of the burn rooms are fitted with propane gas fixtures that were developed by Symtech Fire,” he notes, “and two of the burn spaces in the annex can handle Class A fires.”

Some of the props that are embedded in the fire training facility include a garage and vehicle prop, a kitchen fire simulator, a kitchen cabinet extension that sits above the burn prop and makes the conflagration larger, a hallway fire rollover simulator, a queen bed burn prop on the second floor, an