Fresh Trump tariffs target foreign pharmaceutical manufacturing

Most of the world’s biggest drugmakers, including Merck and Eli Lilly, which operate major facilities in Ireland, sidestepped the punitive moves.

The Trump administration will impose tariffs of as much as 100% on certain imported medicines to pressure drugmakers to manufacture more in the US, putting the spotlight back on the major, multinational pharmaceutical industry operating in Ireland.

The new levy, which President Donald Trump authorised, applies to patented drugs made in countries that lack tariff deals with the US by companies that don’t have most-favoured-nation-pricing agreements with the administration.