US announces 100% tariff on imported brand-name drugs

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that brand-name or patented pharmaceutical products will be subject to a 100% tariff starting October 1 – unless the drugmaker is building a manufacturing plant in the US. Trump has been promising for months to levy tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, which avoided tariffs during his first term. The president sees tariffs as a way to pressure drug manufacturers to ramp up production in the US and to strengthen the supply chain for essential medicines. Also, Trump has pointed to tariffs as a way to fulfill his vow to lower drug costs, though experts say that is unlikely to happen. Drugmakers have taken Trump’s tariff threats seriously, unveiling hundreds of billions of dollars of commitments to...