Tánaiste Simon Harris has said the Government will study a new tariff of 100% on branded pharmaceutical imports from companies that are not building manufacturing plants in the US.
Making the announcement overnight, US President Donald Trump said beginning 1 October, the US will levy a 100% tariff on “any branded or patented pharmaceutical unless a company is building their pharmaceutical plant in America”.
He defined building a plant as “breaking ground and/or under construction”.
In August, the Trump Administration imposed a 15% tariff on most pharmaceutical exports from the European Union.
The EU’s deal with the US shields Europe’s drug exports from tariffs higher than 15%, Brussels said following the announcement.
“This clear all-inclusive 15 percent tariff ceiling for EU exports represents an insurance policy that no higher tariffs will emerge for European economic operators,” said EU trade spokesman Olof Gill.
In a statement this morning, Mr Harris said the 15% cap on pharmaceuticals remains the case.
He said: “We will be studying the impact of this announcement, which includes a number of exemptions, together with EU colleagues.
“I want to stress, however, that the EU and US Joint Statement issued on 21 August last made absolutely clear that any new tariffs announced by the US on pharmaceuticals under its Section 232 investigation would be capped at 15% for pharma products being exported by the EU.
“This remains the case and underlines again the value of the agreement reached last month.”
A European pharmaceutical industry group warned that tariffs on medicines “would create the worst of all worlds”.
“Tariffs increase costs, disrupt supply chains and prevent patients from getting life saving treatments,” Nathalie Moll, director general of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, said in a statement.
Ireland is one of the biggest exporters of pharmaceutical products to the US from the EU, accounting for €33bn of €120bn of pharmaceutical exports to the US last year.
President Trump also announced a 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanity units, which he said were “flooding into the country”, and had to be controlled for “national security” and other reasons to protect the US manufacturing base.
Similar reasons were cited for imposing a 25% tariff on heavy trucks imported into the US market.
