Pharma shipments
Yesterday, Trump posted on social media he will sign an executive order to reduce drug prices. He is pursuing a so-called ‘most favored nation policy’ which would tie the amount the US government pays for a selective group of drugs to the lower prices paid by other high-income countries. He also said he plans to institute tariffs on pharmaceutics by the middle of May. This threat is driving a surge of drug imports into the US to beat potential tariffs. In March, USD 50 billion worth of pharmaceuticals were imported compared to USD 29 billion in February and USD 19 billion in March of last year. Imports from Ireland, a manufacturing base for pharma giants like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, rose to nearly USD 31 billion up from USD 15 billion in February.
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Census, April 2025.