Asian pharma stocks slump as Trump slaps 100pc tariffs on patented drugs

WASHINGTON: The 100 percent tariffs on patented drugs were one of several tariff announcements the president made on Thursday night.

The president said on Truth Social that his administration will impose a 25 percent levy on all “Heavy (Big!) Trucks” made in other countries to protect U.S. truck makers like “Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks and others,” from the “onslaught of outside interruptions.”

In a separate post, Trump announced a new 50 percent tariff on “Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities, and associated products” and a 30 percent levy on “Upholstered Furniture.” The president’s post claimed there was a “large-scale ‘flooding’ of these products into the United States by other outside Countries.” He then added, “We must protect, for National Security and other reasons, our Manufacturing process.”

Citing US Census Bureau Data, Bloomberg reported that Ireland accounted for the largest value of pharmaceutical imports into the U.S. in 2024 at around $73 billion. However, Irish pharmaceutical imports will be covered under a broad tariff agreement the European Union and the U.S. reached in July, with levies pegged at 15 percent. Non-EU countries that are likely to see significant impacts of this tariff include Switzerland, Singapore, India, China and Japan. According to the report, Switzerland exported drugs worth $21.7 billion to the US, followed by Singapore at $19.3 billion and India at $13.1 billion.

In a post X, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote: “Donald Trump is making health care in America more expensive. He’s about to shut down the government over it. And he’s about to send the price of prescription drugs even higher with his new tariffs.” Shares of top US pharmaceutical companies rose in premarket early on Friday after Trump’s announcement. Shares of Eli Lilly jumped 1.18 percent in early trading to $723 while Johnson & Johnson climbed 0.30 percent to $178.26. Merck’s shares rose 0.77 percent to $78.20, and Pfizer’s stock went up 0.72 percent to $23.77.