Weaponising health care: on the Trump tariffs on imported medicines

By announcing 100% tariffs on imports of branded and patented medicines, with effect from October 1, U.S. President Donald Trump has weaponised access to health care in America, where prescription drugs account for about 10% of household medical care spending. The caveat of a 15% tariff cap on imports from the European Union and Japan, which the U.S. has clarified that it will honour, blunts the announcement, as these two jurisdictions account for nearly three-fourths of pharma imports. Much of this trade consists of patented medicines such as the Danish-made weight-loss and anti-diabetes drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic. The impact on patients needing specialised cancer or rare disease drugs could also be severe. There will also be a likely impact on the U.S.’s health insurance sector, as firms