Eli Lilly (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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.

J. Edward Moreno

9/26/25 1:03PM

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.

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Yum! is in exclusive talks with private equity firm LongRange Capital about a sale, per reports.

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Costco’s gas stations are breaking records as drivers seek cheaper fuel

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The Trump administration is reportedly planning a 50% made-in-America requirement for USMCA tariff relief

Qualifying for USMCA-related lower tariffs may soon require more US-made vehicle components, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to introduce a 50% US content requirement for vehicles covered by the trade pact to receive lower tariffs. The content would be measured by cost, according to the WSJ.

There currently isn’t any US-specific requirement for those lower tariff rates, but in order to receive preferential tariffs, vehicles are must contain at least 75% regional content (components made in North America). Per Reuters reporting, the Trump admin is seeking to raise the regional requirement to 82%.

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

Overall, Tesla will likely have the easiest time qualifying for any stricter requirements. The automaker’s vehicles contained the highest amount of US/Canadian content in 2025, according to American University research. Ford, GM, and Stellantis all scored lower.

Notably: the underlying government data that many domestic content measurements rely on intentionally combines US and Canadian components, so it’s difficult to know exactly how much of any given vehicle is specifically US-made.

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These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

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The $640,000 Luce makes the average Ferrari look like a bargain

Put aside the shape; put aside the smoothing out of Ferrari’s iconic sharp edges; put aside, even, the calls from former Chairman and President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo to “take the Prancing Horse off.” On the grounds of price alone, Luce detractors might have a point.

By now, many of us will have read the criticisms of Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle, as the Luce — which was unveiled to the world earlier this week and promptly saw the company’s shares crash out in New York and Milan — gets subtly shaded by competitors online and not-so-subtly shaded by basically everyone else.

What makes all of this worse for Ferrari is that, even by the luxury car maker’s notoriously high standards, they’ve slapped a pretty hefty price tag on the Luce, and the company’s CEO, Benedetto Vigna, has already been forced to defend the €550,000 ($640,000) price point, saying yesterday that it’s “fair to pay for innovation,” per Reuters.

While Ferrari’s cars have been getting more expensive of late, as recently as 2022, Ferrari’s average revenue per car sold was around $340,000. At nearly twice that price, this new electric model is obviously proving a little much (visually, conceptually, and financially) for many loyal and long-standing fans of the Prancing Horse to stomach.