The White House announced it will impose 100% tariffs on branded or patented pharmaceutical products beginning Wednesday, Oct. 1, except for companies building manufacturing sites in the United States.
Generic medications are excluded. ASHP advocated for exempting generics due to the risk of potential shortages.
Thursday’s tariff announcement does not apply to pharmaceutical manufacturers that demonstrate they have broken ground or are constructing facilities in the U.S. While ASHP supports efforts that increase domestic manufacturing of medications, we have expressed concern that imposing tariffs may acutely exacerbate medication shortages in the short term without a carefully implemented long-term strategy.
ASHP advocates for a diversified approach to ensure a safe and secure medication supply chain. This includes encouraging new manufacturers and new manufacturing sites, improving transparency into manufacturer quality, incentivizing long-term, guaranteed-volume contracts, and financing private sector buffer supplies.
ASHP will continue to advocate for a calculated approach to incentivize domestic manufacturing of medications and decrease our reliance on medication importation amid ongoing medication-related tariffs.
