<div dir="ltr"><div><b>Politico Morning Trade</b></div><div>Sept. 29, 2025</div><div><br></div><div><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans",Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:22px">Trump’s pharma tariffs are a partial reprieve</span><br></div><div><br></div><span style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(183,0,0);font-weight:bold;font-family:sans-serif"><strong style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">— President Donald Trump’s latest onslaught of sector-based tariffs</strong></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px"><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>cut a few surprise breaks for the pharmaceutical industry.</span><br><div><br></div><div><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px"><strong style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">PHARMA FINE PRINT:<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>Trump's plan to impose a 100 percent tariff on pharmaceutical imports<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.-P_kjUrZtu2zsRYBgF_pW88pt1_XGfuRn0xx7XLgw9fsrh74sNuRkQEwMBBdcBFW-fUy3xCiHc-49jIdy64cFaeIPNSWsxcUfYvMNrQQ1mx88QOcR4b2MVzIYNLUWTw-GY54Ka8xGS3QYiCV_LcvMxVtLvV-RaUhr2Cr0ecPeyCEX870rZlPFy-q5Uwc3z9f/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h8/h001.UOrjzWuePcQE3vYHeTI_E97ljCg_Rhuxyutphl54txE" target="_blank">sparked warnings</a><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>from lawmakers and industry groups about soaring costs and disrupted access to critical medicines.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px">But as details emerge ahead of the<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.6g0Zd3AyneOViJYBXgbV65ZWHEH5gWGSDKLrcKzwr3-p0hM0_3Fl-CVyTxVSn_nU7bLegmdDfu6AlW1JdlY6jp3WFZ4Ch59N0QC9P_D7pnXQFgWKq65IPObOEZ0-cCvn/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h9/h001.ki7WzfxTuyjQOHDc1NkoQgA9DOaPtfJ54xAZqWDKCRY" target="_blank">policy's expected rollout Wednesday,</a><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>most drugmakers and consumers seem poised to sidestep the tariff’s harshest impacts.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px">For instance, the 100 percent duty won’t apply to companies building plants in the U.S., including those "breaking ground" or already under construction,<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.tZBh-UKX-I3yMqqHCXLb8yfOydSt7swN-GhaAPY3eIN9MnYXvDYGv-VD-Gll-KXMOkDDSGyCxMDjizUabrDnwthYM5-mGc11zpq02VWOq2I/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h10/h001.-XufGH8EKLOMiW8BOTmPbwzm124NRsQgaEYCllO0OKc" target="_blank">Trump wrote in the first</a><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>of a series of Truth Social posts last week outlining new sector-based tariffs.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px">The triple-digit pharma duties also won’t hit generic drug imports, which<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.dGU6vEH-V4r3GBLPJaoxDgmHPAfUbvz1YypoWUuBUiuUdKRxJy_Nk3pqXGHtpNVmrafX7P7NdFt4pPpsz_529g/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h11/h001.DEZ-hI8c8Q2EjupRyUmRVl0EftW6emI47yK3-ruW1kY" target="_blank">account for the vast majority</a><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>of prescriptions filled in the U.S., a White House official, granted anonymity to discuss policies that are not yet final, told Morning Trade.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px"><strong style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">Lucky break?<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>In addition, both the European Union and Japan face lower 15 percent tariff rates on pharma products, consistent with the terms of the updated frameworks they signed with Washington earlier this year. The official clarified that the White House will “of course” honor commitments to cap sector-specific tariff rates at the levels agreed to during negotiations.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px"><strong style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">Not so fast: </strong>Countries that haven’t specified new rates for pharmaceuticals, such as the United Kingdom, face 100 percent tariffs, the official said. London was the first partner to notch an updated trade framework with Washington in May, but the governments left negotiations over tariffs on pharma and other sectors unresolved.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px">“This may not be as dramatic in practice as it looks,” Peter Harrell, an economic adviser for former President Joe Biden told Morning Trade. “If Trump plans to honor his trade deal commitments, we're going to be importing most on-patent pharmaceuticals at a 15 percent rate, and only a minority of them are going to be exposed to this 100 percent tariff."</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px"><strong style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">By the numbers:<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>The 27-member EU accounted for about 60 percent of all U.S. pharma imports in 2024, marking the bloc as a primary source for the products,<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.q0b8P1m1uhdBZsHkA5woD39PWkIB0HTI2TiR5Vca3306Nr4AtpFF4uOOGYxpREKRvg8uvtfRjBsPZOgSbfR_hCrdqlHSR0dNx6iApEGn_DYDsnx6GZ7ZH4h3SH-lU8VqNpvXoLbp6SNOcf6NEC-mnts3cgMEU0Vk46psAABR9VNSzfJSOBXHWKa_Q8jG2cYjOvRLmMg9EhFKoBsXB5tvWIqWtavsK2yi1dyz1l8ujkpKXZ6NuE0_MD9WJM9EARPfILYWrxVsbcBG6NV3wCxM_A/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h12/h001.IE8IquJINBV72veD9x6ir_4vFAYEfU3fds7sgAUcvQw" target="_blank">according to the United Nations Comtrade Database.</a></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px">An exception is Switzerland, a “big loser” under Trump's policy, Harrell pointed out. The country is a key hub of pharmaceuticals for the U.S., but is not part of the EU.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px"><strong style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">Why now:<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>The partial reprieve comes amid intense pressure from lawmakers, including 20 Ways and Means Republicans who<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.lWesBdxv006jasBZWiiGk9P_ybPe2CGyS-6CLrg5BxZPvQGMwjrcav6he_y4b0PEaw_Q6uYHzqZ2RbjXt-M0d1htt-0ac3-MnB_4SFZ9h8ojQWgurv3w3s5xQIsxjAX8/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h13/h001.Pqx9KrKSlON8h0Ci73uQ5q4hq5c5AkBJYjs3iu8UHhk" target="_blank">sent the administration a letter</a><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>asking them to avoid broad pharmaceutical tariffs, citing the risk of<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.lWesBdxv006jasBZWiiGk9P_ybPe2CGyS-6CLrg5BxYWkXV4TejjmX9mNkoHKTH4H-c4xNi8sl8pLOXwMWl-gxs1fFuKoaJT4IAxVRiLaMmkrwxYrdB6lTUY-7AhccmhrJr2cqfsUEJBuYTzOBTdyItfR4gN8hKpgjObwm0Qb-0/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h14/h001.Vwk0usmOeFhagXtFg3Pth2BkVkoUQZQUuA2Qb4crH40" target="_blank">shortages and price hikes</a>.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px">Meanwhile, industry groups representing companies in medical and industrial sectors are still urging the administration to proceed with caution.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px">“The immediacy of punitive, 100% tariffs on innovative medicines for any company without ‘shovels in the ground’ would devastate our nation’s small and mid-sized biotechnology companies,” wrote John Crowley, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, which represents biotech firms, in a<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.6g0Zd3AyneOViJYBXgbV6_B2Hb9kRBwpRWDpbxFepVXU9Trb9BDGDNWdV2RUPTBi12ntnGqZZR7HhMgNy-f3vcXbHGkgD0Nxn8MheQhMqAU/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h15/h001.3mjMqMqYSuzMHWYqPv5XKVAtcQ21AJnWHQZM0Igzvpo" target="_blank">statement posted Friday</a>.</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px">“These 3,000+ companies are the heart and soul of America’s vitally important biotechnology industry,” he added. "Most of these companies do not have access to the significant capital needed to immediately establish manufacturing in the US.”</p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:24px;line-height:24px"><strong style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">Reminder:<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>The White House has not released new details about the national security investigation into pharma imports<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://url4027.email.politico.com/ss/c/u001.lWesBdxv006jasBZWiiGk9P_ybPe2CGyS-6CLrg5BxYWkXV4TejjmX9mNkoHKTH4TpdB2XlEdQwyI9fP3U5J8EpLE2umhpK4ajE9FpXm8DcL_aGlVrqHZfkxkpey8ehGExhWSWIBFmrMajOHfxBqnNBGZz1e_r10WytgdiBjAbmo7SSO0Rd6b5I0HHToqWqx/4kb/zFu7CZQLQVizlsRar0z3WQ/h16/h001.mdiVQ3TUn28g1b27PmJ8Ih_qqJKeykFeYjk1KNIC4vo" target="_blank">since it launched in April</a><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.</p></div></div>