US opens door to tariffs on pharma, semiconductors

WASHINGTON: The United States opened the door on Monday to tariffs targeting high-end technology and pharmaceuticals, feeding the uncertainty gripping the global economy in a trade war that Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned can have “no winner.”

After weeks of indications such a move was coming, the US commerce secretary formally announced “national security” investigations into pharmaceutical imports, and another on semiconductors and chip-making equipment.