Trump Signals ‘Tougher’ Chip Tariffs… Will a ‘100% Tariff on Pharmaceuticals’ Also Materialize?

Trump Steps Up Broad Pressure on the Pharma Industry

Will a 100% Levy Become Reality

As U.S. President Donald Trump signals broader semiconductor tariffs, analysts say steep product-specific tariffs on pharmaceuticals could be imposed in the near term.

Trump has been signaling since Oct. 1 last year that he would impose a 100% product-specific tariff on pharmaceuticals. However, with negotiations ongoing between the Trump administration and global drugmakers, the 100% tariff on pharmaceuticals has not yet been implemented.

Major global pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have agreed to cut drug prices in the U.S. amid pressure over potential tariffs. Trump has used the prospect of high tariffs as negotiating leverage. He said, “If we hadn’t used tariffs, we wouldn’t have been able to reach these agreements.”

U.S. companies moved up the timing of pharmaceutical imports to before September last year to build inventories. As a result, imports of pharmaceutical ingredients fell by $14.3 billion month-on-month in October last year, becoming a decisive factor in the overall decline in imports. Import volumes for the category dropped to the lowest level since July 2022.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump said in a speech at the “Detroit Economic Club” on the 13th that he would “announce a framework later this week to ease the burden of health insurance.” He explained that “the framework will lower premiums for millions of people, reduce drug prices, increase price transparency, and demand honesty and accountability from insurers in the U.S. and around the world.”

Reporter Lim Da-yeon allopen@hankyung.com