Trump Imposes Tariffs of Up to 100% on Imported Brand-Name Drugs, With Broad Exemptions

On April 2, 2026, the Trump administration imposed tariffs of up to 100 percent on imported branded and patented pharmaceuticals produced by drugmakers that had not reached agreements with the United States to lower domestic drug prices. Companies that had struck so-called most-favored-nation pricing deals with the administration were exempted, and reporting at the time noted that the carve-outs covered a large share of the affected manufacturers. The action came a year after the administration's original "Liberation Day" tariff announcement and was paired with adjustments to metals duties.

The structure ties a trade penalty directly to whether a private company accepts a pricing arrangement negotiated with the executive branch, rather than to a generally applicable trade rule. That design concentrates discretion over which firms pay and which do not in the hands of the administration, and it arrived while the Supreme Court's February 2026 decision invalidating the earlier IEEPA global tariffs had already narrowed the legal basis for emergency-powers trade measures.

The tariffs took effect in April 2026. No court had ruled on this particular pharmaceutical action as of the end of the month.