Trump’s Medicine Tariffs are the Wrong Prescription
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, President Trump announced plans to impose 100% tariffs on certain pharmaceutical imports as well as a deal with the UK that will force the country to increase spending on brandname medicines.
In response, Public Citizen experts said, instead of working towards a reliable and affordable drug supply chain, the Trump administration appears to have enacted a quid pro quo with Big Pharma:
“Trump’s tariffs will be either ineffective or harmful for what people need, which is a reliable, plentiful, affordable supply of medicine,” said Peter Maybarduk, Access to Medicines director. “The administration is exempting many drugmakers from tariffs in exchange for secretive arrangements that allow Trump to claim specious victories on manufacturing and high drug prices. In reality, many manufacturing commitments claimed under the deals were part of previously-planned projects and the drug pricing commitments appear designed to largely spare drug company profits rather than earnestly address affordability concerns. Meanwhile the administration has given drugmakers perks like lucrative vouchers to accelerate FDA review of their medicines and a promise from the Trump administration that it will bully other countries into adopting higher prescription drug prices, using tariffs as leverage. If the administration wants to fix problems like medicines shortages and fragile supply chains, it should focus on real solutions to support more transparent and diverse supply sources and make targeted investments for the supply of key medicines.”
“By announcing these tariffs without even producing the evidence from the investigation that supposedly justifies them, Trump is continuing his pattern of grabbing headlines by using the word ‘tariff’ while engaging in secretive ongoing negotiations and opaque exemptions processes that are ripe for corporate corruption,” said Melinda St. Louis, Public Citizen Global Trade Watch director. “While strategic tariffs can be used to support domestic manufacturing and good jobs, they must be paired with real public investments and support for workers’ rights, which Trump has systematically undermined. Instead, he’s bullying other countries like the UK into paying more for medicines, which will lead to windfall profits for Big Pharma and do nothing to reduce U.S. prices.”
The tariff announcement comes 12 months after the Department of Commerce announced an “investigation” under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which allows the President to impose tariffs on imported goods following a determination that the imports “threaten to impair” national security. But Commerce has not published the report for its investigation despite the potential implications for the public and the requirement to do so under statute.
Public Citizen filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Commerce for disclosure of the tariff-exemption agreements.
In the few cases where drug companies aren’t exempted from the tariffs, the results could be higher medication prices for American patients.