US President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on imports of patented drugs unless the manufacturers are building factories in the US. The move will apply from Oct. 1, Trump said.
Until now the pharmaceutical industry has been somewhat protected from US duties: The EU has a 15% ceiling on tariffs, which it understood applied to pharma, and Switzerland had a pharma exemption from a 39% tariff on other goods.
Some major drugmakers recently announced plans to build plants in the US to appease the White House, but Trump was clear that unless a plant is already “‘breaking ground’ and/or ‘under construction’,” levies will apply. He also announced new duties on imported trucks, and, unexpectedly, bathroom cabinets.