President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States will impose sweeping new tariffs on imported generic pharmaceutical drugs beginning in August 2028, escalating his administration's trade pressure on the global medicines industry. Under the plan, generic drugs will continue to enter the country tariff-free until 1 August 2028, after which a 100% tariff will apply for one year, rising to 200% from August 2029 onwards. Trump posted the announcement on his Truth Social platform, framing the measure as a tool to force pharmaceutical manufacturers to build production facilities on American soil.

Generic drugs — lower-cost medicines whose patents have expired, allowing multiple manufacturers to produce them — account for more than 90% of medicines sold in the United States, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. Trump said the policy on patented, branded, and innovative drugs would remain unchanged.