European pharmacist industry

Insulin, heart treatment and antibiotics have been free to have many borders for decades, released from tariffs to make medicine accessible. But this may change soon.

For months, President Trump has promised to impose higher tariffs on pharmaceuticals as part of his plan to change Global Trading System and restore key production industries to the United States. This month he said pharmaceutical tariffs he could come In the “not very distant future”.

If they do this, the move would have solemn – and extremely uncertain – consequences for drugs made in the European Union.

Pharmaceutical products and chemicals are a block Export No. 1 to America. Among them are the OLOSPIC OLOSPIC hit, cancer treatment, cardiovascular drugs and influenza vaccines. Most of the name brand drugs that bring a enormous profit on the American market, with high prices and a huge number of consumers.

“These are critical things that keep people alive,” said Léa Auffret, who manages international matters for the European Consumer Organization Beuc. “Placing them during the trade war is very disturbing.”

European companies could react to Mr. Trump’s tariffs in many ways. Some pharmaceutical companies trying to avoid tariffs have already announced plans to boost production in the United States that Mr. Trump wants. Others could decide to move production there.

It seems that other companies remain in place, but they can boost prices to cover tariffs, increasing costs for patients. And higher prices can affect not only American consumers, but also patients in Europe. Some companies started to argue That Europe should create more favorable conditions for its companies, dismantling some rules that reduce drug prices.

Or some central land could play: companies can transfer their financial profits to the United States for accounting purposes to avoid import fees, even when they leave their physical factories abroad to avoid movement expenditure and challenges related to establishing novel supply chains.

The group of Mrs. Auffret has already warned European officials that they could not find an attack on an crucial industry, in exchange for the Curs of American drugs: Tit for dad would be too solemn for European consumers.

But the pharmaceutical sector is complicated. Agreements with insurance companies and government agencies may hinder the quick adaptation of prices to branded medicines, while government regulations can make the transfer of both the challenge and long -term commitment. The result is that no one can predict the result.

“For a long time there is no purpose of pharmaceuticals,” said Brad W. Setser, an economist at the Council of Foreign Relations, who strictly examined tax principles encouraging foreign production.

Even when Mr. Trump stopped his so -called “mutual” tariffs in favor of a 10 percent coefficient of 10 percent, he left some tariffs specific to the industry and explained that the next computer chips and pharmaceutical products will be next. The United States has recently started investigating in both sectors, which is the first step towards hitting their tariffs.

Many industry experts expect novel tariffs to be 25 percent, according to steel, aluminum and cars.

In countries at the center of the European drug industry, possible tariffs are particularly disturbing. This is especially true in Ireland, where pharmaceuticals constitute 80 percent of all exports to the United States.

Many pharmaceutical companies originally moved to Ireland because they offer very low tax rates. But he also worked on the development of the pharmaceutical industry and offers access to highly qualified workforce.

In recent years, the sector has increased rapidly. Above 90 pharmaceutical companies They are there now, according to Ireland Foreign Direct Investment AgencyAnd many of the largest American drug producers have operations in the country. Last year, Ireland exported the pharmaceutical industry EUR 58 billionThat is about $ 66 billion in pharmaceutical and chemical products in the United States.

“The Irish are wise, yes, wise people,” said Trump in March, while Prime Minister Micheál Martin from Ireland visited the White House. “You took our pharmaceutical companies and other companies,” he said. “This lovely island of five million people has the entire American pharmaceutical industry in its reach.”

Now the tariffs could break away from the benefits of production – which is the goal of Mr. Trump.

“We no longer produce our own drugs in the United States,” Trump said last week from the oval office, adding that “pharmaceutical companies are in Ireland.”

Companies are already damaged. The companies were in a hurry to export their pharmaceuticals from Ireland and to the American market before the fall of Gauntlet, Statistics suggest.

Ireland is also not affected by the only country. Germany, Belgium, Denmark and Slovenia are also main exporters.

“This is a huge problem for Europe,” said Penny Naas, which runs a competitiveness program for the Think tank of the German Marshall fund and has long been working in European public policy and corporate matters.

European leaders reach both American officials and the industry. In addition to the last visit of the Irish Prime Minister in the oval office, the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs went to Washington to meet the Secretary of Trade.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, executive arm of the European Union, met in Brussels with the European Federation of Industry and Pharmaceutical Associations, a lobby group representing the largest drug producers in Europe.

The industry uses the moment to press items from the wish list, such as less bureaucracy.

The European drug lobby group said Mrs. von der Leyen that companies can transfer production or investments in relation to the United States to limit the exposure to Mr. Trump’s tariff, especially when faster approval and easier access to capital make America more attractive.

At least 18 members of the group, including Bayer, Pfizer and Merck, have planned almost 165 billion in investments in the European Union over the next five years. The federation said that as many as half of it could go to the United States. It is also not alone in this forecast.

“Pharma needs more attractive production conditions in Europe,” said Dorothee Brakmann, director of Pharma Deutschland, the largest German Association of Pharmaceutical Companies.

Such warnings seem to have teeth. Some companies began to make plans to spend more in the United States; Roche announced last week American investment plan worth $ 50 billionlatest string such ads.

In the comments published last week, the directors of Novartis and Sanofi suggested that less regulation is not enough to stop bleeding. They argued that “European price controls and savings resources reduce the attractiveness of their markets” and that the block should pave the way for higher prices.

The industry management also warned that sector tariffs can interfere with supply lines, disturb patients’ access and tests and development.

“There is a reason” that the medication tariffs are set to zero, Joaquin Duato, general director of the drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, said Wa The last call of earnings. “This is because tariffs can cause disturbances in the supply chain, which leads to deficiencies.”

SM. from Leyen he emphasized similar fears, warning Tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector of risk “implications for globally connected supply chains and the availability of drugs for both European and American patients.”

Pharmaceutical tariffs also have another danger to the European Union.

The block tries to build its ability to produce generic drugs that are medically necessary, but much less profitable than brand products and are often produced in Asia.

But if American tariffs mean that manufacturers of generic drugs in China and India are suddenly looking for customers outside America, it can send a flood of cheaper pills towards Europe.

This may make the European Union to establish a national production base for generic drugs, even when the tariffs lure the production of medicines for the brand in relation to the United States.

“We believe that it is likely that this will cause increased investments in the US,” said Dieserik Stadig, sectoral economist at ING. “The European Commission must be on football.”