What Trump’s 100 Per Cent Pharmaceutical Tariff Means For Australia

United States President Donald Trump has slapped a 100 per cent tariff on some pharmaceutical drugs made outside the US, with Australian-made products facing the highest levy despite carve-outs for other countries. Trump signed the executive order overnight which imposes a 100 per cent tariff on some foreign-made pharmaceutical drugs. “We keep sending this clearest of possible messages to the US because we know they get the big drug companies in their ear, trying to unpick the PBS here in Australia and equivalent schemes in other countries around the world,” he told Sunrise. The group called for tariffs on Australian-made drugs, but Butler said on Friday the government would not negotiate with the US on changes to the scheme. Trump’s order states that companies that move production to the US will face a reduced tariff of 20 per cent.

Download the SBS News app to watch news videos, highlights and trending topics in the one place. LIVE stream SBS World News Bulletin from SBS News app at 6.30PM AEDT daily, or watch FREE On Demand. However, drugs produced in the European Union and countries including Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom will be subject to lower levies under existing trade jiohotstar casino deals. Opposition leader Angus Taylor said the Coalition would work with the government to have the tariff removed or secure an exemption for Australian exports. Australia’s PBS — under which the federal government negotiates medicine prices directly with suppliers to make them cheaper for Australians — has long been criticised by the US pharmaceutical lobby.

A CSL spokesperson told the Guardian the company was reviewing information from the US but did not anticipate material impact from tariffs. Reacting to the tariff news on Friday morning, Butler told Channel Seven’s Sunrise he was “pretty confident” CSL would receive a carve-out due to its manufacturing presence in the US. He said the government would work with companies and exporters in Australia that might be impacted. You can also watch SBS News videos and highlights on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok. The tariff has been implemented under a section of trade law designed to protect US national security, meaning it is not affected by a Supreme Court decision in February that struck down levies implemented under emergency orders.