The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday said it has identified about 75 imported drugs that would be significantly affected by US tariffs on pharmaceuticals, although the overall impact would be limited.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that starting on Wednesday next week, imported brand-name and patented drugs would be subject to a 100 percent tariff, with exemptions only for drug manufacturers that have production facilities in the US.
Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) yesterday said that US drug tariffs mainly target brand-name drugs and new drugs that are still patent-protected, and exclude active pharmaceutical ingredients and generic drugs, so the overall effect on drug prices would be limited.
Photo: CNA
The impact on domestic drug exports is not significant, as Taiwan mainly exports active pharmaceutical ingredients, which are not subject to the new tariff, and does not export many new patent-protected drugs, Shih said.
Regarding imports, which directly affect people’s medications, Shih said that once a brand-name drug’s patent expires, most can be replaced with generics, so the impact would be fairly limited.
However, there are about 75 out of 214 patented imported drugs that have no alternatives, which would likely be the biggest impact, he said.
A special resilience budget has already allocated contingency funds that could be drawn on if needed to stabilize drug prices, he added.
The ministry would closely monitor drug prices and make adjustments to the National Health Insurance system as necessary, Shih said.
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