White House: New US tariffs on medicines don’t apply to EU
The new 100 per cent import tariff on pharmaceutical products and medicines announced by US president Donald Trump does not apply to countries that already have a trade deal with the United States. This was confirmed by a White House spokesperson to Reuters, after the European Commission reported earlier on Friday that the tariff does not apply to the European Union.
Pharmaceutical products are currently exempt from tariffs. The recent EU-US trade agreement stipulates that potential tariffs on these products will be limited to 15 per cent.
The European pharmaceutical sector was however plunged into uncertainty when the US president announced on his own platform, Truth Social, that new 100 per cent tariffs would apply to all patented pharmaceutical products and medicines from 1 October. The European Commission quickly responded that the tariff does not apply to the European Union, which has now been confirmed by the White House. A spokesperson clarified that the new import tariff does not apply to countries that already have a trade deal with the US, like the EU.
This news comes as a relief to the Belgian pharmaceutical sector, which experienced a day of uncertainty. Earlier on Friday, Belgian pharmaceutical federation essenscia had asked for a clear answer from the European Union. The potential impact of new tariffs would have been significant. A quarter of Belgian pharmaceutical exports go to the US and pharmaceutical products account for 55 per cent of Belgium’s total exports, measured in value.
Illustration © PHOTO Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP