Trump wants to initially impose 'small tariff' on pharma imports before rising to 150%
Patrick Wingrove and Andrea Shalal, Reuters
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States would initially place a "small tariff" on pharmaceutical imports before hiking it to 150 per cent within 18 months and eventually to 250 per cent in an effort to boost domestic production.
"In one year, one-and-a-half years maximum, it's going to go to 150 per cent and then it's going to go to 250 per cent because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country," Trump told CNBC in an interview.
He did not specify the initial tariff rate on pharmaceuticals. Trump said last month that pharmaceutical tariffs could reach as high as 200 per cent. He said in February that sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips would start at "25 per cent or higher," rising substantially over the course of a year.
Trump said on Tuesday that he plans to announce tariffs on semiconductors and chips in the "next week or so," but gave no further details.
The United States has been conducting a national security review of the pharmaceutical sector, and the industry has been preparing for possible sector-specific tariffs. The administration has not announced when the results of that probe will be released.
Several drugmakers have pledged multibillion-dollar investments in US manufacturing as Trump threatens import tariffs, with AstraZeneca recently committing $50 billion to expand its American operations.
PhRMA, the main lobbying group for the industry, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A framework agreement between the United States and the EU sets out that tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors are currently zero, but if the United States raises tariffs following its import investigation, they will be capped at 15 per cent.
The pharmaceutical sector employs around 45,000 people in Ireland and is one of the country's major exports to the US.
Total Irish exports were valued at €223.8 billion last year, with roughly one third going to the US.
Of the €72.6 billion in US imports from Ireland, approximately €58 billion relates to pharmaceuticals and chemicals leaving Ireland.
