America If President Donald Trump applies up to 200 percent tariffs on drugs exported from India, the Indian pharma industry will have no other option but to increase the prices of drugs for the US market. However, this is also sure to affect the Indian pharma industry. Donald Trump has said that the US will impose tariffs on medication and copper imports. He said that the tariff on medicines can go up to 200 percent.
Apart from increasing the price of medicine, there will be no other option
An industry official said, “This is an emerging situation right now. We believe that the tariff cannot be so much because it will also increase the cost of buyers in America. In the worst situation, if this happens, we will have to increase prices accordingly. We have no option because we work on low margins.”
Worse circumstances can be made for small companies
The official said that small pharmaceutical companies working on low margin may be under heavy pressure, which may make them merger or close. India currently imposes about 10 percent import duty on American medicines, while the US does not impose any import tariff on Indian medicine. Deepak Jotwani, Vice President and Sector Head of the rating agency Ecra, said that America is a major market for most Indian pharmaceutical companies, which is 30–40 percent of their total revenue.
Indian pharma industry expected to be affected
Deepak Jotwani said, “The US administration imposing high tariffs on the import of drugs can have a bad effect on the Indian pharma industry, as some increase in cost may have to be borne by companies.” He said that Indian pharma companies export generic drugs on a large scale in the US market, which is already facing tremendous competition. He said that by imposing high tariffs, the increase and profitability of Indian pharma exports can be affected.
With PTI inputs
Latest business news
