Trump says he’ll ‘take a look’ at exempting some larger US companies hit especially hard by tariffs

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was open to providing exemptions for certain U.S. companies hit especially hard by tariffs through no fault of their own. 

The president and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke to reporters Wednesday afternoon and were asked repeatedly about the effect their tariff moves have had on financial markets and whether they will let their recent declines affect future trade decisions. 

Trump was asked specifically if he would consider “exempting” some larger U.S. companies that have been hit especially hard by the new tariffs, and the president said he would consider it. 

“I’ll take a look at it as time goes by. We’re going to take a look at it,” Trump responded. “There are some that have been hard — there are some that, by the nature of the company, get hit a little bit harder, and we’ll take a look at that.”

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When asked how he would determine which companies might receive such an exemption, Trump responded, “Instinctively.”

“You almost can’t take a pencil to paper. It’s really more of an instinct than anything else,” Trump added. “Some companies, through no fault of their own, they happen to be in an industry that is more affected by these things than others. You have to be able to show a little flexibility, and I’m able to do that.

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“You have to have flexibility,” Trump said Wednesday. “I could say, ‘Here’s a wall, and I’m going to go through that wall. I’m going to go through it, no matter what. Keep going, and you can’t go through the wall. Sometimes you have to be able to go under the wall, around the wall or over the wall.”  

After the president’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements, which included a 10% universal tariff on all imported goods and higher “reciprocal” tariffs targeting other countries like China and the European Union, the Trump administration did release a list of carve-outs related to roughly $644 billion in imports, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The exemptions include $185 billion in goods from Canada and Mexico, but the countries remain subject to other tariffs, according to the report.

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Additionally, the Trump administration has exempted certain industries, such as the pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries, from new tariffs, but the president has signaled that could change. These sectors and others are facing an ongoing probe, called a Section 232 investigation, according to Market Watch, to assess the need for imposing tariffs.

No matter the outcome of the investigation, it appears Trump has his sights set on placing higher tariffs on the pharmaceutical industry. He told an audience at a dinner hosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee Tuesday night that “a major tariff on pharmaceuticals” would be announced very soon. 

The White House declined to comment for this article.