WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said on Tuesday all generic drugs being brought into the United States will continue having a tariff of 0 percent for two years starting from Aug. 1, after which the tariff rate will be raised to 100 percent for one year and to 200% thereafter.
"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.
Trump has been pressuring drugmakers through his most-favored-nation drug pricing policy to lower prices to what people pay in other high-income countries.
More than 90 percent of medicines sold in the United States are generics, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The policy on patented, branded, or innovative drugs will remain unchanged, Trump said.
The world's biggest drugmakers signed deals with the U.S. government last year that exempted billions of dollars of drugs from tariffs.
Trump signed an executive order in April imposing 100 percent tariffs on branded pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S. unless manufacturers agree to government drug pricing deals or commit to making their products domestically.