Medicines Australia warns Trump’s tariffs regime has already impacted pharmaceutical sector

Australia’s peak pharmaceutical industry body says Donald Trump’s tariffs regime has already impacted the flow of new medicines Down Under and questioned why Anthony Albanese didn’t advocate for the sector during his White House visit.

Medicines Australia said steep tariffs imposed on foreign pharmaceutical companies from October 1 and an executive order to reduce high prescription drug prices had already prompted firms to either delay launching drugs in Australia or skip the country altogether.

Despite concerns in the lead-up to the highly anticipated talks, the Prime Minister didn’t raise the pharmaceutical tariffs with the US President in their hours-long engagement.

Medicines Australia boss Liz de Somer said already patients who relied on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) faced long wait times for drugs to be added and feared it could be exacerbated under the US tariffs regime.

“Australia believes President Trump is likely to turn his attention back to low pharmaceutical prices being paid by other countries around the world,” Ms de Somer said.

“As Australian published prices of pharmaceuticals are ranked amongst the lowest, Australia will once again be in the spotlight.

“We are already seeing the impact of these policies, with a slow-down in new medicines coming to Australia.

“Our members are advising that there is significant scrutiny over new medicines launches, by their international headquarters, due to low prices in Australia.

“They are choosing not to launch new medicines here, or to delay medicines launches.”

Under the PBS, the Government negotiates with drug companies to enable Australians to buy life-saving drugs worth thousands of dollars for as little as $31.60 a script.

The Albanese Government has passed legislation to reduce that cost even further to $25 a script from January 1, 2026.

Health Minister Mark Butler had vowed in July that Australia would continue to “press the case” and reiterated Australia’s long-held position that the PBS is “not up for negotiation”.

However, when contacted, Mr Albanese’s office confirmed that the Prime Minister didn’t raise the pharmaceutical tariffs in his Washington talks.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, however, described the trip as “incredibly successful” when asked if it was a missed opportunity not to seek assurances for the pharmaceutical sector.

She vowed there would be continued engagement on the issue but raised that a deal on critical minerals and support for AUKUS had been the Prime Minister’s priority.

“We continue to engage with the US. And we’ll continue to do that on all of those other matters,” Senator Gallagher said.

“I think this was an incredibly successful trip. I think the Prime Minister has gone representing the country in our national interest.

“There will be continued engagement with the US — in a whole number of areas.”

Opposition leader Sussan Ley criticised Mr Albanese failing to alleviate Australia’s tariff burdens by skipping the key trade discussions points.

It included the securing lower tariffs for steel and aluminium exporters, which were targeted with 25 per cent tariffs by the Trump administration in March.

The Liberal Leader said while she welcomed his critical minerals deal and support for the AUKUS pact, she was disappointed Mr Albanese didn’t advocate for industries impacted by the US trade regime.

“There was no conversation yesterday in the Oval Office about relief from tariffs. Nothing about the tariff burden for our steel and aluminium sector,” Ms Ley said on Wednesday.

“The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was able to negotiate those tariffs down by 50 per cent. Our prime minister was unable to do that.

“Now there’s 200,000 jobs relying on those industries here in Australia, and I would like to hear the Prime Minister back in those industries and talk about moves with the US to actually change our tariff burden.”

Mr Albanese said he did however raise Australia’s blanket 10 per cent levy on Australian goods to the US President during the bilateral.

“Yes, of course I did. The United States has a different position from Australia when it comes to tariffs. I continue and will always put the case for free and fair trade,” he told ABC Breakfast from Washington on Wednesday.

“I’ll always put the case for Australia’s interests to be advanced. That’s my job. But we do so respectfully and diplomatically.

“That’s how you get outcomes. And it is important to recognise that there’s no country in the world has a lower tariff than Australia.

“And so that’s the starting point for the discussions. But we’ll continue to engage and we’ll continue to put our case forward.”

Mr Albanese wrapped up his trip to Washington on Wednesday, telling a BHP event in the US that Australia’s relationship with America had gone “up a notch” after the trip.

There’s potential the PM and Mr Trump could meet again on the sidelines of the upcoming APEC and ASEAN summits in Asia.