Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Major' Tariffs On Pharmaceutical Products Are Coming, Trump Vows
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that pharmaceutical imports will soon be hit with 鈥渕ajor鈥 tariffs as part of his efforts to drive manufacturing back to the U.S. Drug imports evaded the first round of tariffs that Trump imposed on countries around the world, but the president said they will not be spared. (Svirnovskiy, 4/8)
The president revealed his administration's plan at a National Republican Congressional Committee dinner on Tuesday. Trump said at the dinner: "We're going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals. And when they hear that, they will leave China. They will leave other places because they have to sell鈥攎ost of their product is sold here and they're going to be opening up their plants all over the place." Historically, pharmaceutical drugs have been manufactured in the U.S., but this is no longer the case, with only 28 percent of manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in the country as of August 2019, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (King, 4/9)
Unless Europe delivers 鈥渞apid, radical policy change,鈥 pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing is 鈥渋ncreasingly likely to be directed towards the U.S.,鈥 pharma CEOs in the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) warned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Tuesday. (Liu, 4/8)
Even before President Trump's announcement that he plans a "major tariff" on pharmaceuticals, the sector was getting hammered in the markets 鈥 and not just over concerns about higher costs. ... Concern has been growing that drug reviews and other key functions of the FDA may be slowed in light of cuts at the agency, which could be particularly devastating for small and midsized companies that have just one or a handful of products. The markets are also reacting to leadership shakeups, most notably the high-profile ouster of Peter Marks, former director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. (Reed, 4/9)