Drug imports were largely carved out from the initial global tariff campaign announced last week, a sign of the strength of the industry lobby despite general anger over high drug prices.
However on Tuesday night, Trump indicated pharmaceutical tariffs would be coming.
"We're going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals," Trump said at a dinner of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
"And when they hear that, they will leave China. They will leave other places because they have to sell — most of their product is sold here, and they're going to be opening up their plants all over the place."
Chinese imports account for a significant proportion of U.S. prescription drug ingredients. Many of the Chinese-produced drugs are generics, which account for 91 percent of prescriptions dispensed in the U.S.
Trump has been pressuring drugmakers and other industries to move manufacturing back to the U.S., and pharmaceuticals were initially part of the tariff discussion before they were exempted.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would largely pause or lower the tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, with the exception of China, which now faces a 125 percent tariff rate.
But Trump and White House officials indicated that sector-specific tariffs under consideration like pharmaceuticals will not be impacted by the pause.
Trump said specifically he will be moving forward with pharmaceutical tariffs.
"We let them leave. If they want to come back, we're going to put tariffs on the pharmaceutical companies," he said.
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