Why pharma stocks aren’t getting hit by new tariff threats
Most European drugmakers have announced some sort of investment in the US since Trump’s tariff threats began earlier this year. And some seem to have imported plenty of product to get ahead of tariffs anyway.
President Trump’s tariff threats don’t sting as much as they used to.
On Thursday evening, Trump announced on Truth Social that starting on October 1 there will be a 100% tariff on patented, branded pharmaceuticals “unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America.” The move squarely targets European drugmakers, which were mostly unmoved by the news.
A spokesperson for the European Union told The Wall Street Journal that its trade pact with the US should shield it from the 100% tariffs. Even then, it’s difficult to think of a European drugmaker that hasn’t announced some sort of investment in the US since Trump’s tariff threats began earlier this year.
Roche said it would invest $50 billion over five years in US operations, AstraZeneca also pledged to invest $50 billion, and GSK recently announced a $30 billion investment, just to name a few. (Trump gave the useful clarifier that “IS BUILDING” will be defined as “breaking ground” and/or “under construction.”)
With that in mind, it makes sense that investors weren’t particularly spooked by the proposal, which as of now exists only in the president’s Truth Social post. But as the tariff back-and-forth plays on, some drugmakers may have already loaded up on inventory.
Eli Lilly makes Mounjaro and Zepbound, two lucrative diabetes and weight-loss shots that compete with Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy. Lilly is based in Indiana but currently manufactures its most lucrative drugs in Ireland, though it has also announced several US investments.
Imports of peptides and protein-based hormones — the import category that GLP-1 weight-loss drugs fall under — coming from Ireland with a final destination of Indiana skyrocketed this year and then halted in July.
Lilly, which has also announced several domestic investments, declined to comment but pointed to its recent quarterly filing, where it disclosed that it was loading up on imports of orforglipron, its experimental GLP-1 pill that is approaching regulatory approval.
