Trump's pharmaceutical tariffs could raise costs for patients, worsen drug shortages

President Donald Trump 's planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S. could have wide-ranging consequences for drugmakers and American patients.

The duties could disrupt the complex pharmaceutical supply chain, drive up the prices of drugs and exacerbate shortages of critical medicines, some experts said.

It's unclear whether tariffs will influence more companies to make more drugs in the United States like Trump is hoping for.

The impact of tariffs on costly branded medications will look a lot different, experts say.

Manufacturers of these drugs have fewer binding contracts, allowing them to pass on higher costs easily.

Generic oral drugs face low margins, but their manufacturing is less complex and the market is more competitive.

A price hike on a branded drug would directly translate to higher out-of-pocket spending for people in high-deductible commercial insurance plans.

But some of those drumakers have already pushed back on tariffs, warning about their potential impact on research and development in the industry. "We can't breach those agreements, so we have to eat the cost of the tariffs and make trade-offs within our own companies," Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks told BBC in an interview last week . "Typically, that will be in reduction of staff or research and development, and I predict R&D will come first . That's a disappointing outcome.".