Trump announces tariffs as high as 100% on pharmaceuticals

Exemptions include generic drugs and companies that have committed to building manufacturing plants in the United States.

President Donald Trump has announced a new pharmaceutical tariff that would impose as much as 100% on imported brand-name drugs. 

The executive order, announced Thursday, is to spur the production of pharmaceuticals in the United States. 

Exemptions are for generic drugs and companies that have already pledged to build manufacturing facilities in the United States. Pharma companies that lower prices would be subject to a 20% tax. 

“I have determined that it is necessary and appropriate to impose a 100 percent ad valorem duty rate on the import of patented pharmaceuticals and associated pharmaceutical ingredients …” Trump said in Thursday’s proclamation. “I have determined that it is necessary and appropriate that the ad valorem duty rate be 20 percent on imports of patented pharmaceuticals and associated pharmaceutical ingredients produced by companies that have plans, approved by the Secretary, to onshore production of such pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients.”

The 20% rate will increase to 100% four years after the date of the proclamation, Trump said.

No tariffs would be imposed on imports of patented pharmaceuticals and associated pharmaceutical ingredients produced by companies that have fully executed agreements or are negotiating agreements with the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding Most Favored Nation pricing and onshoring of production.

“Such agreements further United States economic and national security interests by making pharmaceuticals more accessible and affordable in the United States and by strengthening the domestic manufacturing base,” Trump said.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) President and CEO Stephen J. Ubl responded by statement: “Tariffs on cutting-edge medicines will increase costs and could jeopardize billions in U.S. investments announced in the last year. Every dollar spent on tariffs is a dollar that can’t be invested in communities across the country. 

“The innovative biopharmaceutical sector has a robust U.S. manufacturing footprint. In fact, two-thirds of the medicines that are consumed in the U.S. are made in America. And when innovative medicines or their inputs are sourced from other countries, these products overwhelmingly come from reliable U.S. allies, like Europe and Japan.”

Biopharmaceutical innovation has delivered $1.7 trillion in economic impact, supported 5 million American jobs and provided patients with the access to new medicines, he said.

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US manufacturing performance improves in March 2026

US manufacturing performance improved in March this year, with growth solid and picking up since February amid better gains in both output and new orders, according to S&P Global US Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data.

The seasonally-adjusted S&P Global US manufacturing PMI recorded 52.3 in March. That was an improvement from 51.6 in February and indicative of a moderate rate of expansion. It was the eighth successive month that the PMI has posted above the critical 50 no-change mark.

However, with tariffs continuing to hit new export sales, US growth was principally driven by higher domestic demand. Moreover, this in part reflected some client safety stock building due to the war in the Middle East, which drove up inflation and added to supply-chain stress.

US manufacturing performance improved in March, with growth solid and picking up since February amid better gains in both output and new orders, S&P Global US manufacturing PMI data show.
However, with tariffs continuing to hit new export sales, US growth was principally driven by higher domestic demand.
Firms are hopeful that March’s overall increase in sales will be sustained over the coming months.

March’s survey signalled notable accelerations in both input and output price inflation, whilst the time taken to deliver inputs to manufacturers deteriorated to the greatest degree since October 2022, a release from S&P Global said.

Meanwhile, confidence in the outlook softened fractionally, with firms noting worries over higher energy prices and tariffs.

Employment numbers were little changed overall.

Higher output and new orders helped to support the PMI in March. In both instances, growth rates were solid.

Firms are hopeful that March’s overall increase in sales will be sustained over the coming months. Confidence in the outlook remained positive overall.

However, worries over energy prices and tariffs meant expectations softened slightly since February.

Heightened uncertainty in the outlook prompted some firms to build safety stocks, resulting in strong growth in purchasing activity. Overall buying rose at one of the fastest rates since June 2025, though input inventories remained unchanged in March.

Firms adopted a more cautious approach to hiring, with staffing levels largely unchanged. Meanwhile, vendor delivery times deteriorated to the greatest extent in nearly three-and-a-half years, as the war in the Middle East disrupted transportation and worsened supplier stock shortages.

The conflict also pushed up global energy prices, adding to cost pressures. In response, firms raised their selling prices where possible, driving factory gate inflation to a seven-month high in March.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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