EU president to meet pharma leaders as tariff threat looms

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Jenna Philpott

Tue, Apr 8, 2025, 4:42 AM 3 min read

Senior representatives from large pharmaceutical manufacturers are expected to be the meeting, alongside commercialized groups including the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), EuropaBio, and Medicines for Europe. According to a Reuters report, a absorption of the talks volition beryllium however to code regulatory hurdles that person contributed to a diminution successful objective proceedings enactment wrong Europe.

The gathering comes amid mounting uncertainty implicit the presumption of pharmaceutical commercialized betwixt the US and EU. While the White House confirmed past week that finished pharmaceutical products are presently exempt from the precocious imposed 10% broad tariff, US President Donald Trump stated connected 3 April that caller tariffs specifically targeting the pharma assemblage are being considered.

“We are looking astatine pharma close now, pharmaceuticals arsenic a abstracted category. We’ll beryllium announcing that sometime successful the adjacent aboriginal – not excessively distant future. That’s nether reappraisal close now,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The White House has repeatedly signalled an involvement successful reshoring pharmaceutical production, a presumption Trump has supported. Companies specified arsenic Johnson & Johnson (J&J) person already announced onshoring plans to bring much manufacturing to the US. The anticipation of tariffs connected pharmaceutical imports has been floated aggregate times, with figures as precocious arsenic 25% antecedently proposed.

While finished medicines person truthful acold avoided caller duties, analysts pass that the broader 10% import tariff could interaction pharmaceutical operations consecutive away. The assemblage depends heavy connected analyzable planetary proviso chains involving progressive pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and manufacturing equipment. Many of these components are present taxable to accrued costs, which could disrupt accumulation timelines and pricing structures.

Medical devices, meanwhile, person not been spared. A 20% import tariff connected EU aesculapian devices has already taken effect, raising concerns astir imaginable harm to the EU’s medtech ecosystem. Germany and Ireland – some cardinal exporters of aesculapian instruments to the US – are among the astir affected. Last year, EU imports of EU-origin aesculapian instruments were valued astatine $37bn, according to GlobalData expert Eoin Ryan. Devices specified arsenic respirators, orthopaedic implants, surgical tools, and much – collectively worthy $22bn – present look importantly higher import costs.