The federal government will not impose tariffs on generic pharmaceuticals manufactured overseas, and instead focus on brand-name drugs, according to an Oct. 8 report from The Wall Street Journal. In a Sept. 25 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said the U.S. would levy 100% tariffs on branded medications beginning Oct. 1 — unless drug manufacturers built more domestic plants. A few days later, the White House delayed the proposed tariffs to continue negotiations with drugmakers.
For months, the Trump administration has been going back and forth on pharmaceutical tariff rates. This summer, the U.S. capped tariffs on pharmaceutical exports from the European Union to 15% and exempted generic drugs from a 15% baseline tariff applied to Japanese products. The administration told t