FRANKFURT, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Germany's pharmaceutical industry on Friday strongly criticized planned U.S. tariffs on imported branded medicines, calling them a massive blow to international trade and Europe's security of supply.
The outcry followed U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement a day earlier that the United States will impose a 100 percent tariff on all branded and patented pharmaceuticals from Oct. 1 unless companies relocate their production to the United States.
European Commission deputy spokesperson Olof Gill said the joint EU-U.S. statement on trade issues published in August explicitly caps tariffs on EU exports, including pharmaceuticals, at 15 percent.
The United States is Germany's most important market for medicines, accounting for roughly a quarter of German pharmaceutical exports in 2024. The sector employs about 130,000 people. Even before Brussels responded, German industry associations voiced alarm.
Pharma Deutschland, the country's largest pharmaceutical industry group, called the U.S. plan a direct assault on global trade and a threat to Europe's drug security. The approach is "brutal and questionable," CEO Dorothee Brakmann said, warning that Washington's stance signaled a drive to isolate itself and pull economic activity back inside its borders. She said the move would not only risk sales losses but also deepen uncertainty in transatlantic trade.
The Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (VFA) said a 100 percent tariff would deal a severe setback to Germany and Europe as pharmaceutical hubs, disrupt supply chains and drive up production costs, endangering patient care on both sides of the Atlantic.
VFA President Han Steutel said some investment projects had already been frozen and cautioned that the measure undermined existing trade agreements. "We are not making full use of our potential as a single market and are in danger of becoming a pawn between the major economic powers," he said.
Wolfgang Grosse Entrup, head of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), described the U.S. move as a "new low" in trade relations, insisting the agreed 15 percent tariff ceiling must apply to pharmaceuticals, or "it is worthless." ■
