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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed two executive orders on Thursday that expand his trade offensive: one that imposes tariffs of up to 100% on imported patented medications and another that restructures existing duties on steel, aluminum, and copper, as announced by the White House.
The measures were announced exactly one year after the so-called "Liberation Day," when Trump launched his first major tariff offensive in 2025, and represent the final step in a protectionist strategy aimed at relocating pharmaceutical and metallurgical production on U.S. soil.
The 100% tariff will be applied to the imports of patented medicines and their active ingredients from countries that have not signed trade agreements with Washington.
However, the order includes a tiered system of exemptions and reductions, as revealed by CNN.
Pharmaceutical companies that join the "Most Favored Nation" pricing initiative and commit to building plants in the United States will be exempt from tariffs for three years.
Companies that only relocate their production without signing that price agreement will pay a reduced tariff of 20%.
Countries with active trade agreements with Washington—such as the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland—will face only a 15% tariff, while the United Kingdom will have a 10% tariff according to the terms of its own bilateral agreement.
Generic medications are excluded from the tariff in this first phase, although the administration has indicated that it will review that decision within a year.
Regarding implementation timelines, large pharmaceutical companies will have 120 days to comply or negotiate agreements before the tariff goes into effect, while smaller companies will have 180 days.
"We expect that the vast majority of the world's patented medications will be produced in the United States by then," declared a senior administration official. "They have been given sufficient notice, and we are going to move forward with this."
The Government has already negotiated at least 16 agreements with major pharmaceutical companies to sell medications directly to consumers under the "Most Favored Nation" initiative, which includes the TrumpRx platform, launched in February of this year.
Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and EMD Serono are among the companies that have agreed with the administration to increase their investments in manufacturing in the United States in exchange for reduced tariffs.
In parallel, Trump signed a second order that modifies the calculation base for tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper.
The 50% levy on these metals will now be calculated based on the total price paid by U.S. customers, instead of the value declared by foreign sellers, a change aimed at combating the deliberate undervaluation of exports that the Government has detected in recent months.
Additionally, finished products containing 50% or more of steel, aluminum, or copper will be subject to a 25% tariff on their total value, while those with less than 15% metal content will be exempt.
These changes to the tariffs on metals will take effect on Monday, April 6.
The Commercial Representative of the White House, Jamieson Greer, described the changes as "simply a matter of simplification and fairness" and dismissed any potential impact on consumer prices.
Both measures come in the context of rebuilding Trump’s tariff policy following the Supreme Court ruling on February 20, which declared unconstitutional —by a vote of six to three— the reciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The new sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals and the review of metals are based on different legal grounds —Section 232 and national security powers— that were not impacted by that ruling.
The measures raise concerns within the Republican Party itself, as its lawmakers fear that Trump’s aggressive trade strategy will further increase prices for Americans, who are already worried about the cost of living and inflation.
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