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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that pharmaceutical companies could soon face new tariffs, with initial rates expected by the end of the month.
“Pharmaceuticals will be tariffed probably at the end of the month, and we’re going to start off with a low tariff and give the pharmaceutical companies a year or so to build, and then we’re going to make it a very high tariff,” Trump said in a video posted to the White House’s Rapid Response 47 account.
Trump said the goal is to bring more pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the United States.
“There’s two ways you do it,” he said. “You make money and/or you have them move here so they don’t have to pay the tariff. Those are the two ways.”
The president first floated the idea of significant pharmaceutical tariffs during a cabinet meeting earlier this month. According to Bloomberg, he suggested at the time that rates could eventually rise as high as 200 percent.
Trump did not name specific companies in Tuesday’s remarks, but major pharmaceutical manufacturers such as Eli Lilly & Co. and Pfizer are among those that could be affected by the policy shift. The administration has not yet released a detailed tariff schedule or timeline beyond the one-year grace period mentioned by Trump.
The proposed action marks another step in Trump’s broader effort to boost domestic production across key industries, including medicine, technology, and energy. The White House has framed the move as part of a push to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains and protect national interests.
No official announcement has been made regarding implementation, and the plan may face pushback from the pharmaceutical industry and international trade partners in the coming weeks.
The comments came as Trump returned to Washington, D.C., following an energy policy event in Pittsburgh. The president participated in a roundtable event on Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Energy & Innovation Summit, announcing a $92 billion investment from 20 leading tech companies that will benefit the Keystone State, RSBN previously reported.
“This is a really triumphant day for the people of the Commonwealth and for the United States of America,” Trump said.