A leading European pharmaceutical industry group has issued a stark warning against the new tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, saying the import duties on medicines "would create the worst of all worlds."

 

Trump announced a fresh round of sweeping tariffs on Thursday, including a punitive 100 per cent duty on imported branded or patented pharmaceutical products, set to take effect from October 1st.

 

The tariff will be applied unless the company is already building a manufacturing plant in the United States.

 

Reacting to the news, Nathalie Moll, Director General of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), stated to AFP: "Tariffs increase costs, disrupt supply chains and prevent patients from getting life saving treatments."

 

The 100 per cent duty on branded medicines is seen as a significant escalation of Trump's protectionist trade policy, aiming to incentivize pharmaceutical companies to onshore manufacturing and reduce the US trade deficit.

 

The move has sent shockwaves through the global pharmaceutical sector.