British government officials and pharmaceutical bosses are actively fighting to stop US President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on medicines, which would damage the British industry by billions, writes the "Times" newspaper, quoted by BTA.
The US president has warned that tariffs on foreign medicines will come into effect in the "not too distant future", and has suggested they should be 25 percent. The move would be a serious blow to the British pharmaceutical sector, potentially costing companies including GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca billions. The US is the biggest market for the two British pharmaceutical companies. AstraZeneca, which produced one of the first Covid-19 vaccines, exports 40 per cent of everything it produces to America, which amounts to more than £20 billion of its revenue.
The industry as a whole in the UK directly employs more than 73,000 people and indirectly generates at least 200,000 jobs. Lord Mandelson, the British ambassador to Washington, is said to consider the issue "extremely important" to the UK and is actively working to win a reprieve.
Pharmaceuticals are currently exempt from the 10 per cent basic tariff that Trump imposed on global imports on "Emancipation Day" this month. The UK is also subject to 24 per cent tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel, which ministers are also hoping for a reprieve. The discussions are being led by both the UK embassy in Washington and the Biotechnology Innovation Organisation, a US-based trade body. Prominent British scientists have warned that tariffs on medicines could lead to the collapse of supply chains and patient suffering.