New Trump threat poised to send medication prices soaring
At a cabinet meeting Tuesday, President Donald Trump floated the idea of imposing a 200% tariff rate on pharmaceuticals, which could cause the cost of medications to skyrocket.
"We'll be announcing something very soon on pharmaceuticals," Trump said. "We're gonna give people about a year, a year-and-a-half to come in, and after that, they're gonna be tariffed if they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country — the drugs and other things into the country — they're going to be tariffed at a very high rate, like 200 percent. We'll give them a certain period of time to get their act together."
Forbes reported that the enormous tariff rate, "could affect some $200 billion in imports and raise prices on Americans’ medications if it takes effect."
In May, Trump signed an executive order, which he touted as "one of the most consequential executive orders in our country's history," that he claimed would lower drug prices by "30% to 80%."
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, "I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World. Our Country will finally be treated fairly, and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before. Additionally, on top of everything else, the United States will save TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS."
It wasn't clear how Trump's executive order from May would interact with a 200% tariff rate if it were implemented a year from now.