President Donald Trump has announced a doubling of pharmaceutical tariffs.
Share and Follow

The US president said he was looking to announce 200 per cent tariffs on all imported pharmaceuticals.

“If they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country … they’re going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like 200 per cent.”

President Donald Trump has announced a doubling of pharmaceutical tariffs.
President Donald Trump has announced a doubling of pharmaceutical tariffs. (AP)

“We’ll give them a certain period of time to get their act together.”

The tariffs would make Australian-made vaccines and drugs far more expensive for Americans to buy.

Pharmaceuticals are Australia’s second biggest export to the US, behind beef.

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, vaccines, antisera, toxins and cultures are worth more than $1.6 billion each year.

Much of this comes from one company, Melbourne-based CSL, which manufactures flu shots, among other pharmaceuticals.

Australia exports more than a billion dollars worth of vaccines to the US each year.
Australia exports more than a billion dollars worth of vaccines to the US each year. (Nine Archives)

Internationally, the pharmaceutical tariffs will hit Ireland and Germany the hardest.

Trump’s tariff threat comes as he announced a new tariff on copper.

While Australia is a major copper exporter, very little of it goes to the United States.

Most of Australia’s copper exports go to Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and India.

“Our exports of copper to the US are actually quite small,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers told ABC Radio National.

“Our pharmaceuticals industry is much more exposed to the US market, and that’s why we’re urgently seeking some more detail on what’s been announced.”

Copper futures prices surged more than 10 per cent in the moments after Trump announced his new tariffs.

Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs were supposed to take effect today.

But yesterday the president announced the implementation would be pushed back to August 1.

Chalmers decried Trump’s tariff plan at a press conference yesterday.

“We’ve made it very clear that we think these tariffs are bad for the US, bad for Australia and bad for the global economy,” he said.

Wall Street ended the day mixed, with the S&P 500 dropping slightly the day after a massive drop.

What do we sell to America?

Australia’s exports are largely raw materials, measured by the tonne.

But the US is selling finished products, where single items cost thousands of dollars.

The most valuable Australian export is beef, either frozen or fresh.

Cuts of beef in a butcher's window.
Beef is Australia’s top export to the US. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Australia sold about $2.7 billion worth of beef to the US in 2023, much of it going to McDonald’s.

Lamb and goat accounted for another $1.4 billion.

Australia’s second most valuable export to the US is vaccines and other pharmaceuticals.

Raw metals like aluminium, gold, nickel, lead and zinc are also big exports to the US.

Wine, wheat, therapeutic and orthopedic appliances, uranium and animal fats also get sold there.

Share and Follow
You May Also Like

Navigating the Pain of Being Ghosted by a Close Friend

If you spend more time cursing a family member than enjoying time…
Storm weather. Torrential rain

What temperature do you trust – feels like or actual? Let’s break it down

Between ‘bomb cyclones’ and polar blasts, many Aussies have been shivering through…
Lachlan Young, 23, faced the Victorian Supreme Court in Ballarat on Wednesday for the start of his murder trial.

Court hears Victorian man who killed his ex-girlfriend insists he is not a murderer

A man who killed his former girlfriend and then tried to stage…
Small business owners react to RBA decision

Cafe and pub owners hit hard by dual impact of cash rate decision

One in 10 hospitality businesses have closed in the last year, according…
'Deeply loved' Australian lawyer, father of two, dies in Thailand

Australian lawyer and father of two, who was dearly loved, passes away in Thailand.

An Australian lawyer and dad of two who died in Thailand earlier…

Thief steals many right shoes from a store in Brisbane

A small Brisbane shoe store is trying to solve a peculiar mystery…
Samsung Unveils Ultra-Thin Phone & New Watch Health Features

Samsung Introduces a Sleek Foldable Smartphone

New York: Six-and-a-half years since Samsung first unveiled a smartphone with a…
Saving seven lives as easy as ticking a box, organ donor advocates say

“Changing Lives: How Checking a Box Can Save Seven People”

When Oren Klemich lost his teenage son to Meningococcal 16 years ago,…