The fallout from the massive tariffs continues, this time with New Mexico’s junior U.S. Senator saying they will cause a big increase in prescription drug costs for consumers.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján and his colleague Raphael Warnock of Georgia, both Democrats, wrote a letter to the White House warning about the impacts of prescription drug increases on consumers and domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers.
“We are concerned that the tariffs you have proposed on our trade partners will impact prescription drugs, driving up prices for Americans, exacerbating supply chain issues, and hurting domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers,” the Senators wrote. “Steep tariffs on our closest trade partners only further increase the cost of prescription drugs for both consumers and manufacturers and will lead to drug shortages.”
This is in part because of the international nature of how pharmaceuticals are manufactured.
They noted that many pharmaceutical companies “outsource production of active pharmaceutical ingredients” then import those to mix in the United States. They cited the anticoagulant drug Eliquis, which has its API formulated in Switzerland.
“This drug has accounted for more Medicare Part D spending than any other drug for several years in a row,” the letter states. “These trade barriers will drive up the cost of this already costly drug, further increasing Medicare spending and burdening patients’ pocketbooks.”
Critics have warned that the large tariffs on all imports, with extra punitive costs for certain countries, based on a much-maligned formula related to trade deficits, will have a massive impact on prices for all goods.
The stock market dropped dramatically Thursday, a day after Trump announced the tariffs.
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