Trump Urges Big Pharma To Build More Domestic Factories Ahead Of New Round Of Tariffs
With new tariffs planned for drugs imported from abroad, the Trump administration is encouraging pharmaceutical companies to build more manufacturing facilities in the U.S.
An executive order issued Monday directs the Food and Drug Administration to eliminate red tape in approving new stateside projects and to provide drugmakers “early support before facilities come online,” according to a fact sheet shared by the White House.
It also directs the agency to increase inspection fees for foreign manufacturing plants and up its enforcement of active ingredient source reporting standards for overseas suppliers.
“We don’t want to be buying our pharmaceuticals from other countries because if we’re in a war, we’re in a problem, we want to be able to make our own,” President Donald Trump said in a statement.
“As we invest in the future, we will permanently bring our medical supply chains back home. We will produce our medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and treatments right here in the United States.”
The White House estimated that it takes between five and 10 years to approve and build new facilities like this, which it called “unacceptable from a national-security standpoint.”
The upcoming tariffs led to a wave of domestic investment from pharma giants like Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson.
Merck broke ground on a $1B, 470K SF biotech facility last month at the Chestnut Run Innovation & Science Park in Wilmington, Delaware. Construction began just weeks after Merck completed a $1B, 225K SF vaccine manufacturing plant in Durham, North Carolina.
The new dollars represent “our continued commitment to growing our investments in U.S. manufacturing and [have] the potential to create thousands of high-paying American jobs while ensuring that we can produce and distribute products close to patients right here in the U.S.,” Merck CEO Robert Davis said in a statement.
On Monday, Bristol Myers Squibb announced plans to invest $40B in U.S. research and development, technology and manufacturing over the next five years. But its CEO was less than enthusiastic about Trump policies, including tariffs.
“We are motivated by the fact that our medicines can change the lives of patients,” BMS CEO Chris Boerner said in an op-ed. “But that belief hinges on government policies that encourage highly risky investments and facilitate access. Right now, we have significant concerns that some potential policies surfacing in Washington could threaten the health of Americans and the U.S. economy.”
Industry players are gearing up for new pharmaceutical import duties of around 25%, according to Fierce Pharma.
