Most ingredients in both brand name and generic drugs are made outside the US. The Trump administration’s sizeable tariffs are likely to push their costs up. Rebecca Robbins and Jonathan Corum report for The New York Times on the role different countries outside the US plan in the manufacture of popular prescriptions people in the US take.
Ingredients for prescription drugs tend to come from a variety of countries and pharmaceutical companies tend to manufacture the final product overseas. Only 15 percent of brand-name drugs and 12 percent of generic drugs have active ingredients that are not imported.
With generic drugs, which tend to be less costly, active ingredients tend to be made in India and China. Statins and antibiotics, most prescription drugs, are made outside the US.
Europe manufactures the ingredients for about 43 percent of brand-name drugs. The US manufactures about 15 percent of these ingredients. The rest of the ingredients are manufactured around the world.
The US manufactures about 45 percent of injectable drugs and 22 percent of pills. Again, the rest of these drugs are manufactured around the world, with India manufacturing 60 percent of the pills people in the US take.
Jordan manufactures about 46 percent of the amoxicillin people in the US take to treat strep throat and other common bacterial infections. The active ingredients come from four other countries. The same is true for other popular antibiotics such as lidocaine, cipro and doxycycline.
Not only are these popular drugs likely to become more expensive as a result of Trump’s tariffs. They are likely to be in short supply. Some already are.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Tariffs will likely drive drug prices higher and create drug shortages
- GAO finds US drug prices more than four times those in France
- Medicare Part D drug coverage stunts are rampant
- With drug prices soaring, millions buy drugs abroad
- Case study: Costco saves one couple hundreds of dollars over Medicare Part D
