Pharma — big and small — braces for Trump tariffs
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Pharmacies and drug manufacturers across the country are stockpiling drugs and other supplies in expectation of more tariffs from the Trump administration.
State of play: Jolley's in Salt Lake City is one of the smaller, independent pharmacies trying to preempt price hikes, NPR reported this week.
The big picture: Trump's announcement of 10% global tariffs on April 2 already had big implications for drug costs like packaging and raw materials, which had been duty-free.
- Now the industry is waiting to learn whether he makes good on his promise to impose "major" tariffs on imported medicine.
Case in point: SLC pharmacist Benjamin Jolley bought six months' worth of empty bottles in the most expensive sizes, hoping to get ahead of higher packaging costs.
- If Trump defects from the 1995 agreement under which most countries buy and sell medicines without tariffs, the drugs themselves will also get more expensive, Jolley said.
What they're saying: "I understand the rationale for tariffs. I'm not sure that we're gonna do it the right way," Jolley told NPR. "And I am definitely sure that it's going to raise the price that I pay my suppliers."
Zoom out: Pharmaceutical imports from Europe have soared this spring as U.S. pharmacies and manufacturers anticipate supply chain disruptions and drug shortages.
- Imports from Ireland, a manufacturing hub for pharma giants like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, not only hit a record in March, but were double the previous high, Axios' Tina Reed reports.
- Imports from Denmark — home of Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy as well as much of the U.S. insulin supply — swelled to $1.2 billion in March, up from $810 million a year ago. That's also up from $825 million in February.
The latest: Trump issued an executive order this week threatening "aggressive additional action" against drug companies that keep selling drugs to U.S. patients at higher prices than are paid in other countries.
- It's unclear how this policy will intersect with potential pharmaceutical tariffs, Axios' Maya Goldman reports. The Commerce Department is investigating how drug imports affect national security.