New US tariffs would not cause drug shortages, but the cost of importing drugs from the US would eventually increase, former Food and Drug Administration director-general Kang Jaw-jou (康照洲) said today.
The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) should take an inventory of what drugs could only be imported from the US and look for alternative sources from Europe or other regions, Kang said.
Although pharmaceuticals were exempted from the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on Thursday last week, the White House is expected to soon announce another set of tariffs targeting the sector.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Currently, Taiwan does not impose any tariffs on drugs imported from the US, Kang said.
New tariffs would increase the cost of manufacturing drugs in the US, which would inevitably lead to higher drug prices when exported to Taiwan, he said.
Many new drugs and cancer medications could also be bought from Europe, and there are many similar alternatives, Kang said.
Even if the prices of US drugs increase, it is not likely to cause a drug shortage, as there are other drugs to buy, he said.
The NHIA should consider how drug prices may be impacted early on to plan how to properly respond, he added.
Kang also mentioned that domestic pharmaceutical contract manufacturers with factories in the US may want to consider switching to domestic production.
Other large companies that export goods could try reaching out to their business partners to find solutions, he added.
In addition to negotiating tariffs with the US, the government could also encourage and assist manufacturers to expand exports to Southeast Asia or Europe, Kang said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS