Drug prices: Trump vows for Europe to pay more and US to pay less
Donald Trump has vowed that he will force European countries to pay higher drug prices and for American consumers to pay less. Speaking at the White House, the president said that his administration would punish nations that fail to “equalise” their prices with the US or “extort” drug companies into lowering their prices.
The threat even includes trade sanctions on countries that do not co-operate, opening a new conflict with America’s trading partners following the tariffs last month.
“We’re going to tell those countries, like those represented by the European Union, that the game is up, sorry,” Trump said. “And if they want to get cute, then they don’t have to sell cars into the United States any more”.
An Irish industry source said that the comments were “very worrying” for the pharmaceuticals sector, “coming on top of everything that has been happening recently with tariffs.” Another said that curbs on drug prices in the US would lower profits for the entire industry. “Lower profits means that there will be less to invest in Ireland, less to fund research and less corporation tax,” they said.
The president signed an executive order that, according to the White House, would “communicate price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers,” cutting out “middlemen” through allowing patients to buy directly from the manufacturer. Trump hopes to reduce drug prices in the US to make them the lowest available price worldwide.
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