Trump threatens tariffs on medicines within weeks
The president said he would impose tariffs on pharmaceutical imports 'probably at the end of the month', adding: '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.'
It follows warnings earlier this month that tariffs could be as high as 200pc for medicines imported into the US.
On Tuesday evening, the president suggested the new pharma tariffs could come alongside the 'reciprocal' rates which are expected to be implemented on Aug 1.
Shares in European drugmakers including AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis and Novo Nordisk dropped following Mr Trump's latest comments.
Already, drug makers have been racing to bolster their presence in the US, with companies including GSK and Roche ramping up investment in US factories. Last month, reports suggested that AstraZeneca chief Sir Pascal Soriot had privately spoken of his desire to quit Britain for the US, shifting the company's listing away from London.
It comes amid growing concern that the UK could be hit by new drug levies, despite agreeing a trade deal with Mr Trump.
The UK is not as exposed as Ireland, which exports €58bn (£50bn) in pharma and chemicals to the US every year and has warned tariffs could slash this in half. However, the pharma sector still accounts for a large portion of the UK's exports to the US, with companies sending £8.8bn of pharmaceutical products to the US.
Under the US-UK deal, ministers had pledged to make the UK more welcoming to US pharmaceutical companies, saying they would 'endeavour to improve the overall environment for pharmaceutical companies operating in the UK'.
However, drugmakers warned that the UK was failing to deliver on that promise. They said the Government's long-awaited life sciences strategy – which was published on Wednesday – fell short on making Britain a better place to operate.
The Government announced ambitions to reduce delays for clinical trials and said such plans would help make the UK the third-most important life sciences economy behind only the US and China by 2035.
However, drug chiefs criticised the plans amid an ongoing row over NHS drugs charges. The Government has so far failed to reach an agreement with industry over how much the NHS is able to claw back in rebates on drugs.
Johan Kahlström, managing director for healthcare company Novartis UK & Ireland, said he was 'deeply concerned and disappointed that, despite extensive engagement, the Government's new life sciences sector plan fails to address core industry concerns around the UK's investment environment'.
Richard Torbett, from The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: 'The UK must address the core issue holding back the life sciences sector, the long-term disinvestment in innovative medicines that is increasingly preventing NHS patients from accessing medications that are available in other countries.
'Without change, the UK will continue the slow slide down international league tables for research, investment, and the availability of new medicines.'
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