Will Trump impose pharma tariffs this year?
Playing with drug prices might be playing with fire.
On Pharma, Big Talk, Little Action
Trump’s second term has brought a wave of new tariffs targeting steel, copper, consumer goods, and more - plus one huge threat: a 20% to 200% tariff on imported pharmaceuticals. The headlines are wild, and the rhetoric is sky-high. This looks like a pressure campaign heading into the November midterms, with the Trump team using tariff rumors to shake up global supply chains and keep voters on edge. But is this finally the year pharma gets hit for real?
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Is Pharma Untouchable?
Beneath the chaos, pharma has kept its exemption from Trump’s trade war. No matter how much noise Trump makes about “ending foreign control” over medicine - meaning China and India - he’s avoided moves that would actually raise drug prices at home. That’s political suicide with older voters, a core Republican base. Even as he makes threats and hands out ultimatums, he’s gone out of his way to separate pharma from other imports every time new tariffs are announced.