President Donald Trump has announced a 100% tariff on all imported generic drugs, set to take effect on August 1, 2028, with a 200% tariff following in 2029. The stated goal is to force pharmaceutical production back to the United States.
Generic drugs account for 90% of all prescriptions filled in the country. Industry experts and patient advocates warn the tariffs will lead to significantly higher costs for consumers. These increases would likely be passed along through higher insurance premiums, copays, and deductibles.
"Imposing massive tariffs on generic medicines risks making lower-cost generic drugs millions of Americans rely on more expensive and harder to access," said Merith Basey, CEO of Patients for Affordable Drugs.
The Association for Accessible Medicines stated generic manufacturers "simply can’t absorb new costs." Its CEO, John Murphy III, noted that while domestic manufacturing has grown, low reimbursement rates remain a major challenge.
Currently, the U.S. has about 230 factories that produce active pharmaceutical ingredients. In contrast, China has 524 such facilities and India has 564. Analyst Stefan Schneider of Vontobel said shifting this production back to the U.S. would likely raise generic drug prices.