US President Donald Trump announced a slew of tariffs on Thursday (US time). “We will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America,” the American leader wrote on Truth Social. This particular tariff regime will go into effect on October 1, 2025.
The fresh tariff threat will not impact companies building drug manufacturing plants in the country, Trump noted. The exemption will extent to projects where construction has started, including places that are “under construction” and/or “breaking ground.”
“There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started.”
Trump’s pharma tariff warning takes shape: What he said last month
Trump’s latest addition to his sweeping and punishing tariff announcements comes shortly after he warned that import taxes on foreign pharma products could soar up to 250%.
In August, the MAGA leader indicated that his highest rate threat so far would initially start off with the imposition of a “small tariff.” He further told CNBS at the time that this rate would hit its “maximum” level within a year or year and a half, reaching 150% and then eventually 250%.
Trump’s big tariff moves
The hit to the pharmaceutical industry comes along with other announcements as Trump also unveiled the same that he would be imposing a 25% duty on heavy trucks and a 50% import tax on kitchen cabinets, and other such bathroom vanity-associated products.
The new revelation comes to light just after a new series of national security probes was announced on Wednesday. While these covered imports on robotics, medical equipment and industrial machinery, pharmaceuticals were said to be included in a separate investigation.
“Pharmaceuticals, such as prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, biologics, and specialty drugs, will not be covered under this investigation as those imports are being examined in a separate Section 232 investigation,” according to the US Commerce Department.
Indian drugmakers to be affected by Trump’s pharma tariffs
Merely days ago, a Bloomberg analysis showed that Trump’s 250% tariff warning on pharma imports would take a significant toll on Indian drugmakers. As per data provided by health care intelligence firm Symphony Health, about 65% of all birth control pill prescription in the country (2024) were manufactured by India-based companies, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Lupin Ltd, upholding the South Asian country’s identity as the “pharmacy of the world.”
The data further unveiled that birth control pills weren’t the only type of drugs sourced by Indian drugmakers. Hypertension and depression treatments were second in line, with over 50% of American prescriptions being fulfilled by Indian options. Other prescriptions linked to Indian firms last year included Cholesterol (43%) and Asthma and COPD (27%).
With that in mind, pharma data provider IQVIA’s assessment showed early on that India-sourced medicines offered savings as high as about $220 billions to the US healthcare system in 2022. It was also reported that four out ten prescriptions in the country were delivered by Indian brands.
As for Indian drugmakers’ US dependence stands, the analysis revealed that companies like Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Gland Pharma Ltd relied on the Western country for more than a third of their revenue.