On April 2, 2026, Trump signed a proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 imposing a 100% tariff on imported patented pharmaceuticals and their associated ingredients, with a tiered set of reduced rates and exemptions.
The headline figure is 100%, but the structure matters more than the ceiling. What a company pays depends on whether it has struck a deal with the administration. Companies with approved plans to move production to the United States pay 20% instead of 100%, rising to 100% after four years; companies that also reached “most favored nation” pricing agreements pay 0%, a rate that expires January 20, 2029. Products from trading partners with trade deals get lower country rates: 15% for the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and 10% for the United Kingdom. The 100% rate falls on patented drugs from companies that have not made a deal. The administration approves the onshoring plans and can change the favorable rates if it decides a company has not kept its agreement, which puts the tariff rate in the government's hands as leverage over individual firms.
The scope is narrower than the headline suggests. Generic drugs, biosimilars and their ingredients are expressly excluded, and roughly 90% of U.S. prescriptions are for generic medications. The duties were also not immediate, taking effect July 31, 2026 for the large companies named in Annex III and September 29, 2026 for all others.
The generics carve-out did not last. On July 21, 2026, Trump said imported generic drugs would face zero tariffs for two years starting August 1, then a 100% levy in August 2028 rising to 200% a year later.
Correction (October 14, 2026): This entry previously said companies that negotiated with the White House were granted preferential rates of 15%, 20% and 0%; the 20% and 0% rates are for companies with onshoring and pricing agreements, while 15% (and 10% for the U.K.) are country rates under trade deals. It said orphan drugs were exempt; no source confirmed that, and it has been removed. Key facts saying TrumpRx put Trump's brand on prescription drug discount cards and that companies must cooperate with Trump branding or face 100% tariffs had no source and have been removed or rewritten to what USA Today reports. The White House investment figure was not a quotation; the Washington Post reported a senior official said companies had pledged $400 billion for new U.S. plants. A claim that the proclamation directs Commerce to advise within a year on extending tariffs to generics could not be confirmed and has been removed, and the 2028 generic tariff plan is now described as Trump announced it.