Editor’s Note
This article examines the latest pressure on pharmaceutical companies from the Trump administration, detailing new tariff threats just ahead of a key pricing deadline.
The clock is ticking for Big Pharma. Just days before the September 29 deadline imposed by Donald Trump for pharmaceutical companies to lower the selling prices of their drugs in the United States, the sector has been hit by another blow from Washington. On the evening of Thursday, September 25, the US President announced the imposition of 100% tariffs on brand-name or patented pharmaceutical products. This has sent new chills down the spines of drug manufacturers, who were anxiously awaiting statements from the administration across the Atlantic targeting healthcare products.
The announcement, made by Mr. Trump on the social network Truth Social, is set to take effect from October 1. It excludes generic drugs, which represent 90% of prescription drugs sold in the United States but only 13% of expenditures. Most importantly, as written by the White House occupant, it is accompanied by an exemption:
In other words,
he specified.