President Trump’s executive order Thursday targeting imported brand name drugs with
a 100 percent tariff, citing the U.S.’s “import reliance” as reason for the decision, drew a
strong reaction from industry association leaders in New Jersey.
Trump said it is “necessary and appropriate” to impose a 100 percent ad valorem duty
rate on the import of patented pharmaceuticals and associated pharmaceutical
ingredients.
Some brand name drug manufacturers will fare better than others. Companies that have
approved plans to start manufacturing facilities in the U.S. will face a 20 percent tariff
instead.
Drugs coming from the European Union, Japan, South Korea or Switzerland and
Liechtenstein will be subject to a 15 percent tariff, while drugs from the United Kingdom
will face an unspecified “lower” rate subject to a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement.
HealthCare Institute of New Jersey CEO Chrissy Buteas said the executive order is bad
for the industry and the state.
“America’s and New Jersey’s life sciences are fundamental to our national security and
economic growth, but even more importantly, to patients worldwide who are desperately
awaiting the next breakthrough treatment or cure,” she said. “Tariffs on the ingredients
or raw materials that produce those life-saving medicines, medical devices or innovative
technologies will harm America’s global leadership, New Jersey’s workforce and
economy, and dash the hopes of patients everywhere.”
BioNJ CEO Debbie Hart agreed.
Hart said BioNJ stands firmly in support of the fundamental mission of ensuring that the
U.S. remains the dominant source of biomedical innovation worldwide — but questions
if this move will help the country reach that aim.
“We are deeply concerned that the tariffs announced in the proclamations yesterday will
ultimately generate obstacles that impede that competitiveness,” she said. “These
policies are uniquely damaging to the engines of biomedical innovation: small- and
medium-sized biotechnology companies and ultimately will affect the entire system that
produces the medicines that patients need.”
Trump’s order includes several exemptions. Tariffs will not be applied to generic drugs,
orphan drugs or brand name drugs made by companies who have entered into “Most Favored Nation” agreements with the administration.
Throughout 2025, Trump had pressured drug companies such as Pfizer and Bristol
Myers Squibb into entering MFN deals with the threat of imposing heavy tariffs on their
products.
“President Trump is ensuring our trading partners pay their fair share for innovative
pharmaceutical products, so that American patients are not shouldering the burden of
funding research and development for the next generation of life-saving medicines,”
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
The pharmaceutical industry doesn’t necessarily agree.
“As the life sciences work to increase our domestic R&D and manufacturing capabilities, strengthening national security and American jobs while still researching and
discovering cutting-edge medical advances, these tariffs become a barrier to those
efforts,” Buteas said. “This is particularly true for the small and mid-sized innovative
companies, many of which are here in New Jersey, whose R&D investments are so
significant they can’t absorb rising costs or rapidly shift manufacturing strategies while
still delivering for patients.”
Buteas and Hart said their groups are committed to working with policymakers on
solutions that lower barriers to innovation and accelerate the development of new
treatments and cures.
“BioNJ will continue to connect with policymakers in D.C. and in Trenton to convey the
unique features of this sector that make it particularly vulnerable to these trade policies,”
Hart said.
“The life sciences is one of the crown jewels of the U.S. economy, and it continues to be
central to the success of both New Jersey and to Patients across the country and needs
to be protected.”
