WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signalled that pharmaceutical imports may soon face new tariffs, as part of efforts to bring drug manufacturing back to American soil.
Speaking alongside Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Trump said the US “no longer makes its own drugs,” pointing to pharmaceutical firms operating in Ireland, China and elsewhere. “The higher the tariff, the faster they come,” he said, suggesting duties could mirror the 25 per cent tariffs imposed on cars, steel, and aluminium.
So far, medicines have largely escaped Trump’s trade offensive. But the president reaffirmed plans to use tariffs to nudge global pharma firms into relocating production stateside.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also hinted over the weekend that other currently exempt items — including smartphones, laptops and key medical goods — may soon be subject to new tariffs. – BERNAMA
