The EU says its 15pc tariff deal with the US means drugs are already covered.
“We’ll be putting an initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but in one year, one and a half years maximum, it’s going to go to 150pc and then it’s going to go to 250pc because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country,” Mr Trump said yesterday in an interview on CNBC.
He name-checked China and Ireland as countries where drugs are currently made for the US market.
In an on-air interview by phone, President Trump outlined details of the framework trade deal with the EU that was struck just over a week ago, but has yet to produce a final joint-statement signed off by both the EU and United States setting out the practicalities.
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Mr Trump said a commitment by the EU side to invest $600bn in the US was “not a loan”.
“They gave me $600bn and that’s a gift, that is not a loan,” he said.
“They gave us the $600bn that we can invest in anything we want. I can do anything I want with it.”
If the EU does not pay then it will face tariffs of 30pc, he said.
Mr Trump has threatened debilitating tariffs on the drug industry in an effort to force manufacturing back to the US. He recently demanded major suppliers of medicines drastically cut costs or face additional, unspecified penalties.
The sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals, metals and other industries stem from trade investigations that can last about nine months and are imposed on national security grounds under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.
It is seen as stronger legal footing than the emergency powers Trump used for his country-specific levies, which face court challenges. Those so-called reciprocal tariffs are slated to go into effect tomorrow.
The European Commission insists any new global tariff on pharma will not be added to the 15pc it has agreed as an across-the-board tariff
The commission says the 15pc ceiling will also apply to any potential future tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, including those based on Section 232.
“We’re going to be announcing on semiconductors and chips, which is a separate category,” Mr Trump added.
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