The British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca plans to invest $50 billion in the US economy by 2030, according to an official statement published on the corporation's website.
„Today AstraZeneca announces its intention to invest $50 billion in the US by 2030. These investments, based on American leadership in drug manufacturing and innovative activities in the pharmaceutical sector, are expected to help create thousands of new jobs across the country“, the company's press service reported.
AstraZeneca's statement said that most of the investment will be for the construction of a drug manufacturing plant in Virginia. According to the company's plans, the US share of corporate revenues will increase from 42% to 50% by 2030.
According to the Financial Times, AstraZeneca has decided to make multi-billion dollar investments in the US in an attempt to avoid excessive US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, which the administration of US President Donald Trump is talking about.
On July 16, Trump announced that Washington could introduce new tariffs on pharmaceutical products by the end of the month. Earlier, he noted that manufacturers would have a year to transfer their production to the US, otherwise the tariff rate on their products could reach 200%. In addition, the American leader has already announced an investigation into the purchase of drugs from the country. This will be carried out in accordance with Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the president to restrict imports in the interests of national security.