Monday, January 12, 2026

Another Dose of Bullshit

In a Cabinet meeting on July 8, 2025, Trump said: “We’ll be announcing something very soon on pharmaceuticals. We’re going to give people about a year, a year and a half, to come in. And after that, they’re going to be tariffed ... They’re going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like 200 percent.”

Trump prattled some more on the topic in a Sept. 25 social media post: “Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America.”

You guessed it--the president did not sign an executive order imposing a 100% tariff on pharma products on October 1 and, so far, no levy has been put into place. But Trump previously suggested that steep levies on pharmaceutical drugs could arrive further down the road, telling CNBC in August that he would start by charging a “small tariff” and potentially raise the rate as high as 250%. Meanwhile, trade agreements with specific countries set their own rates or exemptions — with the U.K., for example, securing a 0% tariff on all British medicine exported to the U.S. for three years. The administration also announced deals with specific companies with promises of lower drug prices. 

 

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