President Trump's administration has initiated steps toward imposing significant tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products via a Section 232 national security investigation; comments on this are open until May 7, 20251.
Existing reciprocal tariffs initially excluded pharmaceuticals and certain active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from imposition, with these products listed in Annex II of the relevant executive order3.
Executive Order 14345 (Sept. 4, 2025) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to exempt additional products from tariffs at their discretion, specifically including generic pharmaceuticals, generic pharmaceutical ingredients, and general pharmaceutical chemical precursors, particularly for countries like Japan where such products are natural resources or are not sufficiently available in the US45.
As of September 8, 2025, the exemption list for pharmaceuticals has been adjusted, with the authorities able to both add and remove pharmaceutical products from the exempted tariff categories at any time4.
President Trump has repeatedly stated that tariffs on pharmaceutical products may be imposed if deemed necessary to promote domestic manufacturing, but has also left room for potential exemptions on a product-by-product and country-specific basis1345.
Sources:
1. https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/advisories/2025/04/trump-admin-next-steps-toward-pharmaceutical-tariffs
3. https://healthcarelifesciences.bakermckenzie.com/2025/05/02/us-tariffs-and-the-life-science-industry-an-update/
4. https://www.tradecomplianceresourcehub.com/2025/09/07/trump-2-0-tariff-tracker/
5. https://www.tradecomplianceresourcehub.com/2025/09/09/trump-2-0-tariff-tracker/