Celltrion to Decide on US Production Plant Investment in First Half of Year Amid 'Trump-Origin Tariffs'

Celltrion Announces Further Response on Website
Following Trump's 25% Pharmaceutical Tariff Warning

Celltrion has stated regarding U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy that "we will finalize the investment decision related to securing local active pharmaceutical ingredient (DS) production facilities within the first half of this year."

On the 19th, Celltrion posted on its website, "Although we already have strategies in place to minimize tariff impacts beyond 2026, we will make a local investment decision in the U.S. that has been under detailed review since last year," adding, "We aim to quickly establish fundamental and sustainable measures against protectionist trade risks."

They have also taken preemptive measures against tariff imposition. Celltrion said, "We completed the transfer of about nine months' worth of inventory as of the end of January for products scheduled to be sold in the U.S. this year, thereby completing preemptive measures to minimize tariff impacts this year," and added, "Regardless of whether pharmaceutical tariffs are imposed, we have minimized the impact on sales within the U.S. this year."

They also expressed their intention to focus on exporting active pharmaceutical ingredients (DS) and expand local finished pharmaceutical product (DP) production as needed. Pharmaceuticals are broadly divided into active pharmaceutical ingredients produced through processes such as cell culture and purification, and finished pharmaceutical products formulated for patient administration. In the biopharmaceutical field, the price difference between DS and DP ranges from 5 to 10 times. Biopharmaceutical companies in Korea, including Celltrion, that develop and produce biosimilars and betters, have already adopted a method of producing affordable active pharmaceutical ingredients domestically and exporting them to local markets such as the U.S. and Europe, where only packaging is done locally. If Trump's high-tariff policy materializes, they plan to respond by constructing some active pharmaceutical ingredient production facilities locally or increasing finished pharmaceutical product production.

Incheon Songdo Celltrion Plant 2 Overview. / Incheon - Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Celltrion also stated, "We are focusing on exporting active pharmaceutical ingredients, which have a much lower tax burden than finished pharmaceutical products, and are discussing product manufacturing cooperation plans with local CMOs (contract manufacturing organizations) that have sufficient production capacity," adding, "Depending on the trend of pharmaceutical tariff imposition, we plan to respond to changes in the situation with a strategy to further expand local finished pharmaceutical product production if necessary."

President Trump has specified plans to impose high tariffs on pharmaceuticals. At a press conference held at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on the same day, President Trump said regarding pharmaceutical tariffs, "It will be 25% or more," and added, "Tariffs will be increased much more over the course of a year."