Trump Administration’s New Big Pharma Hit List Raises Concerns About “Reciprocal Tariffs” Talks
President Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” (and subsequent pause mere hours after they went into effect) have led to a flurry of closed-door negotiations between the U.S. and countries seeking to appease the administration to avoid Trump’s tariffs. The administration claims that talks are underway with dozens of countries, and reports have surfaced (albeit with little detail) about ongoing talks with India, Singapore, Vietnam, and the European Union.
During his announcement on “reciprocal tariffs”, Trump waved around a report that he claimed contained other countries’ “non-tariff barriers” against the U.S., but that actually is a list of laws and policies that U.S. corporations don’t like — even those that benefit the public interest such as laws that promote affordable medicines. Now, the more detailed annual “watch list” related to intellectual property, the Special 301 Report, which targets trading partners’ policies at the request of Big Pharma has been released. While Trump’s tariffs don’t yet extend to pharmaceuticals, that doesn’t mean these won’t be a central topic of negotiations. The Special 301 Report is a likely roadmap for how pharmaceuticals will factor into discussions.
Big Pharma’s Hit List
This year’s Special 301 Report includes, as always, many items from Big Pharma’s hit list that attack other countries’ policy approaches to medicines in favor of maximalist intellectual property provisions that expand Big Pharma’s monopoly power and increase “market access,” Just some of Big Pharma’s demands parroted in the Special 301 Report include:
- Urging against:
- India and Argentina’s patenting standards that prevent abusive “evergreening” practices and provide rigorous review of patent applications;
- Colombia’s compulsory licensing of patents that facilitate access to affordable generic medicines;
- Japan and Korea’s government pricing and reimbursement policies that help regulate pricing and contain costs.
- Pressuring countries, including India and several others, to change their laws to allow:
- “Data exclusivity” which can prevent market entry of more affordable generic medicines;
- Linkage between patent status and regulatory status, which can invite abuse and impede generic market entry.
The first Trump administration used the renegotiation of the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement to push for extreme intellectual property provisions on behalf of Big Pharma, but Congressional Democrats used their leverage to force a number of those Pharma giveaways to be removed. There’s every reason to believe that Big Pharma will once again push for their hit list wherever they can – including through the flurry of secretive trade deals underway to supposedly remove “non-tariff barriers” to U.S. companies.
Attacking Developing Countries’ Access to Medicines
The Trump administration’s attack on compulsory licensing in the 301 Report is particularly harmful for access to affordable medicine in developing countries. Compulsory licensing allows countries to overcome patent barriers for expensive drugs and introduce affordable generic competition, in exchange for royalty payments to patent holders.
Any doubt about the importance and legitimacy of compulsory licensing was settled 30 years ago when the TRIPS Agreement was brokered. Nonetheless, the Trump administration’s 301 Report repeats Big Pharma concerns about Colombia’s efforts this year to license an expensive AIDS drug and purchase affordable generics through the Pan American Health Organization, to attend to health needs including a large Venezuelan migrant population.
Supporting urgent access to AIDS medicine was the founding example envisioned for compulsory licensing under TRIPS. In this case, after patent holders excluded Colombia from a license negotiated with the Medicines Patent Pool, the Colombian government followed TRIPS rules to find a solution, and provided patent holders opportunities to comment and appeal. If this compulsory license is not acceptable to the U.S. government, it is not clear what license ever would be. Undermining compulsory licenses would have dire implications for people’s access to lifesaving treatments for AIDS and other deadly diseases.
Backing Big Pharma by Raising Drug Prices at Home and Abroad
The Special 301 Report supports Big Pharma’s efforts to raise drug prices abroad. But the Trump administration also has acted to raise drug prices for Americans, including by endorsing a policy that would delay Medicare price negotiations on conventional medicines (small-molecule drugs) by several years.
For more details on the Special 301 Report, read Public Citizen’s 2025 Special 301 Review testimony and written comments. Public Citizen experts Peter Maybarduk, Access to Medicines director and Melinda St. Louis, Global Trade Watch director are available for comment.