New Delhi: US President Donald Trump Thursday announced fresh tariffs of 100 percent on branded and patented pharmaceutical products while remaining unclear on generic drugs—which could impact Indian exports—while also announcing sweeping levies on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and heavy trucks.
“Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America. ‘IS BUILDING’ will be defined as ‘breaking ground’ and/or ‘under construction’. There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started,” he said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
The European Union is the largest source of branded drugs to the US, while most of America’s generic drugs are manufactured in India.
According to an analysis by The New York Times, around 43 percent of all active ingredients for branded drugs are made in the EU. One of the more well-known branded drugs is Ozempic, the diabetes and anti-obesity medication manufactured in Denmark. For generics, in particular pills, India accounts for roughly 60 percent of US’ total needs.
Generic medicines are a key Indian export to the US. In the 2024-25 financial year, around $9.7 billion worth of pharmaceuticals were exported from India to the US. This accounted for roughly 39 percent of India’s overall pharmaceutical exports for the year, which touched $24.5 billion.
With regards to branded and patented drugs, Trump’s post lacks clarity on whether the new tariffs would impact European drugmakers. In July, the US and EU struck a trade deal which would see tariffs applied at 15 percent across various sectors, including pharmaceuticals. Trump’s post makes no mention whether the new tariffs would be stacked on the agreed 15 percent for EU drugmakers.
The fresh US tariffs have been issued under Section 232 of National Security Investigation, which should protect the latest levies from the ongoing legal challenges in the nation. The US president has issued a number of tariffs under Section 232, including on steel, aluminium, copper and automobiles. The global reciprocal tariffs Trump announced in April, however, have come under legal scrutiny due to the use of a different legal provision.
Any new levies on generic drugs could be a further blow for Indian exports to the US. The nation was India’s largest export market in 2024-25, with total exports standing at $86.5 billion. However, large parts of India’s exports to the US have been hit by 50 percent tariffs since the end of last month.
Around 30 percent of India’s total exports to the US, namely smartphones, pharmaceuticals and energy, are so far exempt from the high tariff rates. Original tariff rate for India was announced at 25 percent by the US, before Trump imposed an additional penalty tariff of 25 percent on Indian goods due to the purchase of Russian energy products.
While a partial thaw in India-US ties was initiated last week, through a phone call between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the relationship remains strained. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is in the US for the United Nations General Assembly, and met with his American counterpart Marco Rubio earlier this week.
In the past few weeks, the US has overhauled H-1B visa policy, revoked student visas for overstaying or criminal activities, and imposed high tariffs on large parts of India’s trade with the nation, all of which have affected bilateral ties.
However, New Delhi has maintained that negotiations for an India-US trade deal, which could solve a large number of issues between the two countries, are ongoing, with Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, leading a delegation to the US this week. Goyal had earlier commented that India could increase its purchase of American oil, which the Trump administration has been pushing for.
Apart from pharma, Trump’s latest tariff announcement imposes 50 percent levies on kitchen cabinets and vanities and 25 percent levies on the import of heavy trucks. The levies on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities could also impact Indian exporters.
Around 45 percent of India’s total export of furniture is to the US. India’s exports of all kinds of furniture to the US stood at $1.1 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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