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The Trump administration is preparing to impose 100 percent tariffs on certain drugs as it pushes drugmakers to produce more in the US.
The tariffs – which will be announced as early as Thursday – would be applied to companies that have not struck deals with the White House, people familiar with the matter said.
The tariffs follow threats Trump made last fall, when he said he would impose 100 percent tariffs on imports of branded or patented drugs unless the manufacturer built a factory in the US.
Tariffs on imports from countries that have signed trade deals with the White House would also be capped under the terms of the deal, the people said.
Last year, the US agreed to cap tariffs on medicines from the EU at 15 percent as part of the deal with the bloc in Turnberry, Scotland.
Britain also struck a deal with the US to cut rates on its drugs for three years in return for higher NHS spending on drugs.
Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Novo Nordisk are among the companies that have struck deals with the Trump administration to boost U.S. investment and lower their drug prices in exchange for tariff deferrals.
The new tariffs announced this week are the result of a national security investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which began in April last year.
The obligations imposed under those investigations were not affected by the Supreme Court’s February ruling that struck down sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump using emergency powers.
The White House has since launched investigations that could lead to tariffs using separate legal authorities, in an effort to revive the tariff wall it put in place before the court ruling.
