Trump Plans 100–200% Tariffs on Imported Generic Drugs

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President Trump plans to impose tariffs on imported generic medicines, his latest threat aimed at bringing pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the U.S ., The New York Times points out. The planned levy will start at 100% in August 2028, Trump said in a social media post . He said it would rise to 200% in August 2029, months after the end of his second term. He has repeatedly threatened steep tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals but has not followed through on imposing them. Doctors and supply chain experts have been sharply critical of the idea of taxing imported generics, saying it threatened to raise costs, spur rationing and lead to shortages of crucial drugs. Until now, the administration had said that generic drugs would be exempted from tariffs.

Meanwhile, Trump’s plan to impose steep tariffs on generic medicines has unsettled Indian drugmakers and put the spotlight on their strategy in their biggest export market , Bloomberg News tells us. Indian drugmakers are the largest source of generic therapies for the U.S. In 2024, medicines from India accounted for more than half of all prescriptions for birth control, antidepressants, and hypertension treatments. India, often dubbed the “pharmacy of the world,” also hosts the highest number of manufacturing plants approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration outside the U.S.

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