Pharma group unfazed by Trump tariffs

President Donald Trump —AP Photo

MANILA, Philippines – The head of a local group of pharmaceutical firms has expressed confidence that US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy will have minimal impact on their sector, signaling cautious optimism for the country’s P275-billion industry this year.

As the country is not a big drug exporter. Philippine Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) president Higinio Porte Jr. said he did not see the measure impacting the sector directly.

Based on the executive order issued by the White House, pharmaceutical products are among those exempted from the sweeping reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2 by Trump. In the case of the Philippines, it is a 17-percent tariff versus what the US estimates to be a 34 percent imposition (tariffs and nontariffs) on goods coming from America.

READ: Asia and European shares sink as US tariffs take effect

“We don’t export our pharmaceutical drug products to the US because we are not competitive. It’s more of us importing from them,” Porte said in a recent message to the Inquirer.

Still, he said that they were expecting Trump’s policy to impact the global supply chain, especially for U.S.-based pharma companies that have shifted their production to other regions.

He said many had established production facilities in Mexico, Israel, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and China.

Asked whether the Philippines could take advantage of this, Porte expressed doubt, estimating that the cost of producing medicine in the Philippines was 25 percent to 50 percent higher compared with those countries.

With this, the PPMA official said they were projecting sales this year to grow to P285 to P290 billion, on the back of improving demand.

He said sales had reached P275 billion last year and P269 billion in 2023.

Additionally, he said that the share of sales from locally manufactured drugs was expected to increase from 32 percent last year to between 35 percent and 38 percent this year.