President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration is planning to impose a “major tariff” on pharmaceuticals.
During the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual presidential dinner on Tuesday, Trump warned that the United States does not make its own “pharmaceuticals, drugs and other things to get better” but instead relies on other countries. The president also claimed that pharmaceutical products typically cost way more in the United States than they cost in other countries.
“The same package in our country compared to, like, London and other places is sometimes 10 times more, 10 times more,” Trump said. “Something that sells for $88 in London sells for $1,300 here, made in the same factory by the same company. And that’s over. I told them all that’s over.”
Trump explained that other countries are “smart” by warning pharmaceutical companies that they “can’t sell” their products if they charge more than a certain price on pharmaceutical products.
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“We’re going to tariff our pharmaceuticals. And once we do that, they’re going to come rushing back into our country because we’re the big market,” Trump said. “The advantage we have over everybody is that we’re the big market.”
“So we’re going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals,” Trump added. “And when they hear that, they will leave China, they will leave other places, because … most of their product is sold here, and they’re going to be opening up their plants all over the place in our country.”
During his speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner on Tuesday, Trump said his administration would be “announcing” the tariff on pharmaceutical companies in the future and described his tariff comments as “breaking news.”
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States has decreased its domestic drug manufacturing over the past few decades, resulting in most pharmaceutical countries producing drugs in China and other countries.
In 2019, the FDA announced, “In recent decades, drug manufacturing has gradually moved out of the United States. This is particularly true for manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), the actual drugs that are then formulated into tablets, capsules, injections, etc.”
The FDA added, “While there are many reasons for this shift, underlying factors that are often cited include the fact that most traditional drug production processes require a large factory site, often have environmental liabilities, and can utilize a low-cost labor force.”
