If you were wondering how much higher your bills could soon be thanks to the harebrained tariff scheme imposed by Donald Trump, consider the comments he made to Republicans yesterday.
Speaking to the National Republican Congressional Committee, Trump said his next round of tariffs (i.e. taxes) will be on pharmaceuticals made in countries other than the United States, HuffPost reports.
“While pharmaceuticals were exempt from the president’s first round of tariffs, he has long touted his plan of bringing back drug manufacturing to the U.S. and appears to believe this action will help advance this goal.”
“’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,’ Trump said. ‘And they’re going to be opening up their plants all over the place in our country.'”
“Trump noted that the advantage the U.S. has ‘over everybody is that we’re the big market.'”
Most American drugs are made, at least in part, in China, Europe, and India.
Industry experts have warned that tariffs on pharmaceuticals are likely to cause significantly higher prices and shortages for drugs that are in high demand. Those costs would be passed along to consumers in the form of higher co-pays and/or insurance premiums. It could also mean that life-saving medications would become scarce and only available to the highest bidder on a budding pharmaceutical black market.
While many Republicans are said to be worried Trump’s tariffs could doom them in the 2026 midterm elections, the president predicts the opposite, recently remarking, “I really think we’re helped a lot by the tariffs situation that’s going on, which is a good situation, not a bad, it’s great, it’s going to be legendary, you watch. Legendary in a positive way, I have to say. It’s going to be legendary.”
Of course, this is the same clown who predicted COVID-19 would disappear within a few months.
