New drug tariffs "thunderous, but the raindrops are small"? UBS: Major pharmaceutical companies have already invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. and may receive complete exemptions.

After President Trump announced on Thursday evening that a 100% tariff would be imposed on imported drugs, investment banks such as UBS told their clients that the actual impact of this policy may be minimal. Analysts pointed out that since large pharmaceutical companies have already invested hundreds of billions of dollars in building production facilities in the United States, most companies can obtain tariff exemptions. According to CCTV News, on September 25 local time, President Trump announced on his social media platform "Real Social" that starting from October 1, the United States will implement a new round of high tariffs on various imported products, including a 100% tariff on patented and brand-name drugs. According to Trump's statement on social media, the 100% tariff on "any brand or patented drugs" will take effect from October 1, but companies constructing pharmaceutical production plants in the United States can be exempted. This exemption clause is defined as "groundbreaking" or "under construction," and no tariffs need to be paid as long as construction has begun. Asian stock markets fell on Friday due to the tariff news, with Asian pharmaceutical stocks declining. However, large European pharmaceutical stocks remained relatively stable after Trump's announcement of drug import tariffs overnight. The market generally believes that since major pharmaceutical companies have already made significant investments in US production, the actual impact of the new tariff policy is limited. Analysts expect that this policy is more symbolic and aims to promote the reshoring of the pharmaceutical industry to the United States, rather than truly targeting imported drug trade. According to Bloomberg economists, the countries most affected by this move are Singapore and Switzerland. There are also some important exports of American drugs to the UK its trade agreement with the US mentions that if new 232 tariffs occur, special tariff rates will be considered, but no formal tariff agreement has been reached. Japan also seems to have a similar arrangement. Large pharmaceutical companies have already invested hundreds of billions of dollars, and the impact may be negligible UBS analyst Joe Dickinson stated in a research report that considering the massive investments promised by large pharmaceutical companies over the next five years, the market's expectations for the actual impact of the 100% product tariff may still be low. Specific investment data shows that AstraZeneca has committed to invest $50 billion, Roche $50 billion, GlaxoSmithKline $30 billion, Novartis $23 billion, UCB $2 billion, and Sanofi $20 billion. Vontobel analyst Sibylle Bischofberger Frick pointed out: All major pharmaceutical companies have a presence in the US, and almost all companies have announced large-scale investment plans for the coming years. Mizuho Securities healthcare expert Jared Holz stated in a report that the statement is very direct, but its impact may be somewhere between vague and negligible. All major players have some production operations in the US, and almost all companies have announced increased investment directly related to local manufacturing. According to data from the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, nearly 90% of US biotechnology companies rely on imported components for at least half of their approved products, highlighting the complexity and interconnectivity of the global pharmaceutical supply chain. This article is selected from "Wall Street See News", author: Zhao Ying; GMTEight editor: He Yucheng.