Trump to Announce Pharmaceutical Tariffs Within Two Weeks

Executive Order Signed...
"Major Announcement on Drug Prices Next Week"

On May 5 (local time), President Donald Trump told reporters that he would "make an announcement within the next two weeks" regarding itemized tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

President Trump made this statement at the White House when asked whether he had decided on the tariff rates and the timing of the announcement for pharmaceuticals, as he signed an executive order aimed at promoting pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Donald Trump, President of the United States.

President Trump also said, "We will make a major announcement next week regarding drug prices," adding, "Compared to other countries around the world, we are being treated very unfairly and exploited."

At the event, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to shorten the approval time required to build pharmaceutical factories in the United States.

The order also includes provisions instructing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to accelerate related approval processes.

Additionally, the order contains measures such as ▲ increasing inspection fees for overseas pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities ▲ improving the implementation of reporting requirements for the sources of active ingredients by foreign pharmaceutical companies, and ▲ reviewing the disclosure of lists of non-compliant facilities.

Previously, in early April, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to assess the impact of certain imported pharmaceuticals on national security, which was interpreted as a preliminary step toward imposing tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals.

The White House stated, "We do not want to import pharmaceuticals from other countries," and added, "We must be able to produce them ourselves."

Meanwhile, on the same day, President Trump also signed an executive order prohibiting the use of federal funds for dangerous 'gain-of-function' research.

This executive order bans support for gain-of-function research conducted overseas and includes measures to strengthen the safety and security of biological research.

Gain-of-function research, which involves studies on variant viruses, has drawn attention in connection with the theory that COVID-19 originated in China.

Upon signing this executive order, President Trump said, "This is an important matter," and added, "If this measure had been in place, we might not have experienced the problems we did."