Donald Trump has threatened to introduce tariffs of up to 200pc on pharmaceutical imports in a bid to force more drugmakers to bring factories to the US.

On Tuesday, the US President said “very, very high” duties could be imposed on medicines imported into the US but that he was considering giving pharmaceutical groups one year “to get their act together.”

Economists have warned that higher tariffs on drugs would also hurt American patients, and that taxpayers would end up having to pay more for US government healthcare schemes.

  • tempest@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    Is this one of those things where I go and check where most American drugs are made and it’s already the us?

    The actual drug chemistry I thought was not hard manufacturing wise it’s the figuring out what to manufacture that is the expensive part.

    • fullsquare@awful.systems
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      2 days ago

      No. Barrels of API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) are mostly hauled from India or China, then formulated into pills or whatever, this goes especially for generic medicines. There is some american manufacture of APIs, but these tend to be on more expensive side (biologicals or small molecule drugs under patent). Inputs for these APIs also tend to be made in India or China

    • cosmicrookie@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      It’s not that he wants american companies to make the medicine in the US. He wants international companies to set up factories in the US. Many of them already have

    • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I don’t think a 200% tariff would even make a dent in in profits for selling Indian pharmaceuticals in US either.

      • ToastedRavioli@midwest.social
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        2 days ago

        Especially considering that foreign pharmaceutical companies wont be paying it?? How do people still not understand that the only people this affects are you and I when we go to buy products?

    • Lee Duna@lemmy.nzOP
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      2 days ago

      Is this one of those things where I go and check where most American drugs are made and it’s already the us?

      Just by looking at the value of drug imports to the US, most likely

      Britain exports £8.8bn of pharmaceutical products to the United States and is home to some of the world’s largest drug companies including GSK and AstraZeneca.

      Mr Trump’s drug tariffs would be especially punitive for Ireland, which is responsible for 28pc of America’s imported drugs.

      The country, which exports $66bn worth of pharmaceuticals, has 30,000 people currently employed in plants by US drug companies.

      • NABDad@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Mr Trump’s drug tariffs would be especially punitive for Ireland

        Nowhere close to how punitive it would be for the U.S.