Trump's Section 232 100% Tariff Hits Asian Pharma

President Trump announced a 100% tariff on imported branded and patented pharmaceuticals, to take effect Oct. 1, as part of a Section 232 national-security probe. The measure includes exemptions for companies that have built or are building U.S. manufacturing facilities and may be constrained by existing trade-deal protections; it currently excludes generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients, though officials warn the scope could be widened to complex generics and biosimilars. Asian markets and regional pharmaceutical stocks fell on the news, while analysts said many large global drugmakers may largely avoid the tariffs because of existing U.S. investments and available exemptions that could blunt the policy’s impact. HSBC warned Sun Pharma — India’s largest patented-drug seller to the U.S. — faces supply-chain and compliance risks and modeled an 8–10% earnings downside in a delayed-mitigation scenario. Taiwan’s health ministry identified about 75 patented imported drugs with no local alternatives and said contingency funds and adjustments to the national health insurance could help stabilize prices.