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Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Big problem with essential Aussie scheme
Health Minister Mark Butler says he is looking at recommendations to speed up medicine approvals amid pressure from lobbyists both within Australia and in the US. Medicines Australia has repeatedly highlighted that Australia lags behind comparable countries in listing new medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) – a list of federally subsidised medicines. It takes an average of 466 days from when the Therapeutic Goods Administration approves a medicine to when it becomes affordable on the PBS, according to the peak body. This is much longer than in the UK and Canada, for example. The lengthy timeline has also angered the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which has framed the PBS as a 'non-tariff trade barrier' that harms American companies in representations to the Trump administration. Lengthy PBS listing times is among PhRMA's core criticisms. Mr Butler said on Thursday he would look at Medicines Australia's recommendations to make the 'approvals system quicker'. Powerful pharmaceutical lobbyists in the US have accused Australia of 'freeloading' on the high prices paid by American consumers. Martin Ollman / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia 'We're getting an enormous number of new medicining coming on to the market,' he told the ABC. 'We're living through a turbocharged period of discovery bringing more and more new medicine, so making sure that we can assess them and approve them very quickly to get them into patients as quickly as possible is something I've said is a real priority for us this term.' Because the PBS compels drugmakers to negotiate prices with the federal government, PhRMA has accused Australia of 'freeloading' on US-funded research and development. Meanwhile, American consumers pick up the bill, according to the lobby group. 'The medicines industry, understandably, given their interest, want to make prices higher as well, so there will be a bit of a debate about how we do that,' Mr Butler said. 'But I'm very much on the page of getting medicines more quickly into our system, our PBS system. 'It's a terrific system and we're trying to make medicines cheaper at the same time for Australians.' PhRMA has explicitly urged the Trump administration to 'leverage ongoing trade negotiations' to influence Australia's PBS policies. Mr Butler has echoed Anthony Albanese and fellow senior government ministers in ruling out any 'compromise' on the system as part of tariff talks. For the moment, Donald Trump's concern with the sector appears to be largely focused on bringing down prices in the US rather than punishing allies for having cheaper medicines. A RAND Corporation report found that Americans pay nearly four times more than Australians for medicines and about three times more than the average in other developed economies. The answer, according to the US President, is to make pharmaceuticals in the US. In a warning shot to firms, Mr Trump this week threatened to slap tariffs of up to 250 per cent on foreign-made products. With Australian pharma exports to the US worth more than $2bn in 2024, it would hit producers Down Under hard. Exports are mostly blood products and vaccines but also include packaged medicines and miscellaneous products, such as bandages. 'We'll be putting (an) initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals,' Mr Trump told US business news channel CNBC. 'In one year, 1½ years maximum, it's going to go to 150 per cent and then it's going to go to 250 per cent because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country.' He did not say what the initial rate would be, but earlier in the year he said duties on the sector would start from 25 per cent. Mr Trump last week wrote to 17 major pharmaceutical companies demanding they lower their prices for American consumers and bring them in line with prices overseas.
ABC News
5 hours ago
- ABC News
Donald Trump says he wants to stop Vladimir Putin's 'war machine' but his sanctions–tariffs combo could backfire
Donald Trump is searching for a way to end the bloodshed in Ukraine and the US president's latest plan involves combining two of his favourite punishments: more sanctions, more tariffs. This time, it's where they're going — far from the front lines — that's important. And some analysts are warning it could backfire. After weeks of bluster, things got real on Wednesday with an executive order for an additional 25 per cent levies on all US imports from India. Combined with the 25 per cent "reciprocal" tariff announced last week, it becomes a 50 per cent tariff on a country Trump said was fuelling the "war machine" by buying billions of dollars of Russian oil. The White House has flagged more announcements in the coming days. Trump is trying to dig an economic hole around Moscow so big it forces his counterpart there, Vladimir Putin, back to the negotiating table. It's a simple strategy. Measures designed to hurt Russia's finances that have been in place for years will effectively be expanded to include those who line the Kremlin's pockets. India and China have already been singled out for what's known as secondary sanctions. Combined with new tariffs, like those announced on Wednesday, the US could end up being the one that pays the price. Russia has already been subjected to a multitude of penalties imposed by Western governments, including Australia, and their allies, before and after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow's banks are blocked from accessing global financial markets. Oligarchs' assets abroad are frozen. Many countries have shunned trade. All this was designed to stop Putin's ability to fund his military. And yet, more than three years later, it continues to fight. It's become clear that ending the war will take something more. That's where the US president's new plan comes in. India's external affairs ministry released a statement on Wednesday calling the extra tariffs "extremely unfortunate" and warning the country would "take all actions necessary to protect its national interests". Michael O'Kane is a senior partner at London's Peters&Peters law firm and the co-founder of the Global Sanctions website, which tracks the latest developments in this space. He's sceptical about the effectiveness of secondary sanctions, because the West "continually underestimates Russia's ability to pivot and evade any new measures that are being put in place". "And I don't see any reason why that isn't going to continue." One of the main ways the Kremlin does this is by exporting its oil via a so-called "shadow fleet" of ships. It's estimated this force comprises around 1,400 aging tankers that supply a black market of exports and evade the West's naval net with flags of convenience and convoluted ownership structures. "We now have an under-the-radar network of vessels, agents and brokers who are engaged in this activity," O'Kane says. "The two main buyers are India and China, and they are hugely complex, enormous economies where there's a great deal of difficulty in putting some kind of stranglehold on them." Trump's sanctions/tariffs combination will have different repercussions for China, India and Russia, but experts say the US will be affected too. India's new 25 per cent levies are set to begin in 21 days, while previously announced 25 per cent tariffs will come into effect on Thursday. It means by the end of the month, New Delhi will face some of the highest levies on exports of all the US's trading partners. "With such obnoxious tariff rates, trade between the two nations would be practically dead," Madhavi Arora, an economist at Emkay Global, told the Reuters news agency. While that will hurt India more than the US, slapping new taxes on an important strategic partner could cause significant geopolitical consequences for Washington. "The United States security competition with China in the South China Sea and down into the Indian Ocean is a matter of significant concern to the White House," O'Kane says. "They need to have formidable allies. That's why we've seen this AUKUS arrangement being set up, it's all with the view of being able to contain China from a security perspective. "India plays an important role too, and it would seem to me as though taking action against India at this stage could undermine this effort." While India has begun to learn its fate, new US tariffs and secondary sanctions on China — a superpower with which it is currently locked in trade negotiations — haven't yet been revealed Beijing also welcomes Russia's oil, and immunity from Trump's wrath appears unlikely. Dr Patricia M Kim is a fellow at the Brookings Institution's Centre for Asia Policy Studies and John L Thornton China Centre. "It's hard to imagine Beijing would publicly side with Washington against Moscow or appear to bow to American pressure by cutting purchases of Russian oil," she says, adding any new tariffs announced by the White House would have consequences for Beijing and "deal a blow to Chian's export-driven sectors, especially those heavily reliant on the US market". "But it would hurt the US as well." Unlike its trade relationship with India, the US imports masses of cheap electronics and consumer goods from China's manufacturing hubs — all of which could become a lot more expensive for Americans already complaining about the cost of living. It also relies on rare earths from China, which accounts for almost 70 per cent of global production, to build things like planes, missiles and cars. Earlier this year, the US got a taste of how Beijing reacts to being targeted, when a suite of new tariffs were met with swift reciprocal measures. The world's two largest economies got into the ring, and while they've temporarily stopped throwing punches, the White House has hinted this week it may start again. Trump's new plan to try and put pressure on Russia may seem straightforward, but it could pave the way for a new reality after the guns fall silent in Ukraine, and some will find it frightening. Russia exploiting its new, lucrative black market. India cosying up to the Kremlin. And a disrespected China searching for new ways to punish a country that can't do without its wares.
AU Financial Review
6 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
‘Tenant's playground': office vacancy at 30-year high
Nick Lenaghan edits the property section, which covers all aspects, from residential real estate and housing and construction to commercial property – office, retail, industrial – and major ASX-listed developers and real estate investment trusts.
