{"id":418523,"date":"2026-04-03T15:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/418523\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:00:11","slug":"no-immediate-cliff-edge-for-ireland-as-trump-announces-100-tariff-on-pharma-imports-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/418523\/","title":{"rendered":"No \u2018immediate cliff edge\u2019 for Ireland as Trump announces 100% tariff on pharma imports \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There appears to be \u201cno immediate cliff-edge\u201d for Irish exporters and pharma companies based here after the Trump <\/a>administration announced 100 per cent tariffs<\/a> on certain imported medicines overnight.<\/p>\n

The White House said the US would impose tariffs of as much as 100 per cent on certain imported medicines, albeit with several major exemptions in the administration\u2019s latest move to pressure drugmakers to manufacture more in the US.<\/p>\n

The new levy, which US President Donald Trump authorised late on Thursday, applies to patented drugs made in countries that lack tariff deals with the US by companies that don\u2019t have \u201cmost-favoured-nation\u201d pricing agreements with the administration.<\/p>\n

Tariffs on imports from major economies that cut deals with the White House will be capped at 15 per cent. That includes the European Union, South Korea, Japan, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the statement said.<\/p>\n

Imports from Britain will also face a lower rate, after it agreed to double government spending on new medicines as a proportion of GDP (gross domestic product) over the next decade in a separate deal struck on Thursday.<\/p>\n

EY Ireland tax partner and co-head of geopolitical strategy Aidan Meagher said the \u201cimmediate impact\u201d for Ireland and the EU \u201cappears relatively contained\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0One year after Trump\u2019s \u2018Liberation Day\u2019, Trump\u2019s new pharma tariffs show that uncertainty rolls onOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cPharmaceutical exports from the EU to the US remain subject to a 15 per cent tariff cap under existing EU-US arrangement and generic medicines are currently exempt,\u201d he said, adding the \u201cbigger uncertainty\u201d however is \u201ccompany-specific\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the world\u2019s largest pharmaceutical companies \u2013 including many of those based here in Ireland \u2013 have already reached pricing and manufacturing agreements with the US administration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Irish-based operations, he said exposure will depend on how individual firms \u201calign\u201d their global manufacturing footprints, pricing strategies and future investment plans \u201cwith US policy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"Iran\u2019s cyber-attacks on Irish-based companies and the ongoing impact of conflict in the Middle East<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, while there appears to be no immediate cliff-edge for Ireland and companies based here, clarity on implementation, enforcement and exemptions will be critical. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaintaining certainty and competitiveness remains essential for a sector that is central to Ireland\u2019s exports, employment and long-term investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chambers Ireland chief executive Ian Talbot said that while the impact \u201cseems not\u201d to have a significant impact on Irish exports, it \u201ccontinues to point to the importance of Ireland and the EU accelerating actions within our own control\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0US launches new probes into EU and other trade partnersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cContinued unpredictability and uncertainty undermines business confidence and investment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cImproving our competitiveness, building critical infrastructure and embracing free trade agreements such as Mercosur to diversify our markets are all becoming increasingly urgent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carol Lynch, partner in BDO, said an issue outside of pharma is the \u201cnegative impact\u201d of the tariffs on exporters of steel and aluminium products. \u201cThis is a significant issue for many Irish exporters in the domestic economy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe announcement has changed the application of the S232 duties in relation to derivatives, [such as] those downstream products made substantially of steel or aluminium. Essentially it looks like it will increase the duty cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medicines made by companies that commit to some manufacturing in the US would see their imported products taxed at 20 per cent, and if they strike \u201cmost favoured nation\u201d agreements, the rate would fall to zero, the White House said. <\/p>\n

Fourteen of the largest pharma manufacturers \u2013 almost all of which have manufacturing operations in Ireland \u2013 have signed such deals with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

They are: Pfizer, AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech (Roche), Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck (known in Ireland as MSD), Novartis and Sanofi.<\/p>\n

Veda Partners analyst Spencer Perlman estimated that the full 100 per cent tariff would apply to only around $12 billion worth of goods, or less than 5 per cent of the $274 billion in total US pharmaceutical imports in 2025.<\/p>\n

The White House said the tariff-free exemption would last until January 29th, 2029.<\/p>\n

Duties for products made by certain larger companies that will be hit by the tariffs will take effect in 120 days, while items from smaller manufacturers won\u2019t be hit for another 180 days, the White House said. \u2013 Additional reporting Bloomberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There appears to be \u201cno immediate cliff-edge\u201d for Irish exporters and pharma companies based here after the Trump…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[48531,57015,49567,9,10,33456,18,1465,16242,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,6526,4765,7,8,1411],"class_list":["post-418523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-amgen","tag-astrazeneca","tag-bdo","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-chambers-ireland","tag-eire","tag-eli-lilly","tag-ey","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-novo-nordisk","tag-pfizer","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-us-tariffs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116341377066564873","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}