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President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a plan to impose a 100 percent tariff on generic drugs starting in August 2028 as part of a bid to push pharmaceutical production back to the United States.
The tariff would then jump to 200 percent in 2029, if implemented, the president said in a social media post.
“Effective August 1st, 2026, all Generic Drugs being brought into the United States will continue to have a TARIFF of ZERO PERCENT for a two year period of time, after which the TARIFF will be raised to 100% for a one year period of time, and 200% thereafter,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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.”
A White House official said in an email that the administration intends to use Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which is used to address national security concerns stemming from a reliance on imports, to impose the levies.
The administration has not yet released a formal order imposing the tariffs.
The Trump administration in April announced the results of a Commerce Department investigation under the same Section 232 measure into the national security effects of producing drugs overseas. As a result of that probe, brand-name pharmaceuticals will face tariffs as high as 100 percent at the end of the month, but generic drugs are currently excluded from the duties, among a raft of exemptions.
In addition to generic drugs, the administration granted a carveout from the tariffs for companies with plans to build manufacturing plants in the U.S., and set a lower rate for trading partners it has made broader deals with. Major drugmakers including Pfizer, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca also avoided new tariffs on imports after striking their own drug pricing deals with the White House.
Trump said in his Truth Social post that his policy on branded drugs will not change.
The president has made drug prices a central focus of his bid to address Americans’ cost of living complaints. In addition to pressing ahead with tariffs on brand-name pharmaceuticals, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is pushing foreign governments to spend more on drugs and shoulder more of the costs of innovation.
Last month, USTR launched a trade investigation into Germany’s pricing practices that could result in additional tariffs. The administration also struck a deal with the United Kingdom in April that would see Britain adopt a higher cost-effectiveness threshold for drug pricing and slash the rebate its National Health Service can claw back from drug producers.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told POLITICO earlier this month he has signaled to other governments that they could be the target of similar trade investigations related to drug pricing in the future, spurring a flurry of talks.
The Association for Accessible Medicines, which represents generic drugmakers, said it needed more details and urged the administration to address broader barriers to expanding domestic production.
“We need to understand more the specifics of the policy, but the generics industry is committed to pursuing policies that support and stabilize both the industry and the access necessary to ensure patients have reliable options for affordable medicines,” said president and CEO John Murphy III in a statement. “Our industry has several legislative and regulatory solutions to address the market deficiencies and we look forward to dialogue with the Administration and with Congress to pursue solutions that restore the generics industry to growth and to prioritize its place as a critical national security asset here in the U.S.”
David Lim contributed to this report.
