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US President Donald Trump has announced that generic drugs imported into the United States will continue to face zero tariffs for two years from August 1, before new duties are imposed to encourage domestic pharmaceutical production.
Trump said the tariff rate would rise to 100 per cent after the two-year period, before increasing further to 200 per cent thereafter.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the policy is aimed at encouraging pharmaceutical companies to move generic drug manufacturing and production facilities back to the United States.
"This is done in order to RESHORE Generic Pharmaceutical Production into America, with a penalty to those Companies that decide not to build Plant and Equipment within the stated period of time given to them," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The announcement forms part of Trump's broader push to reduce US medicine prices through his most-favoured-nation drug pricing policy, which seeks to align American prices with those paid in other high-income countries.
More than 90 per cent of medicines sold in the United States are generic drugs, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.
Trump said the policy would not affect patented, branded or innovative medicines, whose existing tariff arrangements would remain unchanged.
Last year, several major global pharmaceutical companies reached agreements with the US government that exempted billions of dollars worth of medicines from tariffs.
In April, Trump signed an executive order imposing 100 per cent tariffs on imported branded pharmaceuticals unless manufacturers agreed to government pricing arrangements or committed to producing their medicines domestically. - July 22, 2026
