Media Statement by Medicines Australia: Pharmacuetical Tariffs

23 October 2025: Whilst there have been no public updates on pharmaceutical tariffs following President Trump’s meeting with the Australian Prime Minister, Medicines Australia believes President Trump is likely to turn his attention back to low pharmaceutical prices being paid by other countries around the world. As Australian published prices of pharmaceuticals are ranked amongst the lowest, Australia will once again be in the spotlight.

President Trump has said the U.S. will introduce a 100% tariff on branded or patented pharmaceutical imports from 1st October 2025, unless pharmaceutical companies build manufacturing plants in the U.S. The President also issued a series of letters to pharmaceutical company CEOs formalising his Most Favoured Nation (MFN) Executive Order, which directed companies to reduce their U.S. drug prices to match those in “comparably developed nations” or risk regulatory enforcement. The U.S. administration’s objective, across both MFN and the tariffs, is for Americans to pay less for their medicines.

The international pharmaceutical industry is conducting one-to-one negotiations between President Trump and company heads to respond to the MFN Executive Order and the 100% tariff. To date, three companies have announced ‘deals’ with the Trump Administration, with further companies planning to follow suit.

We are already seeing the impact of these policies, with a slow-down in new medicines coming to Australia. Our members are advising that there is significant scrutiny over new medicines launches, by their international headquarters, due to low prices in Australia. They are choosing not to launch new medicines here, or to delay medicines launches.

Currently only one in four (27 per cent) of globally supplied new medicines are listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) or Life Saving Drugs Program. Patients also wait, on average, 466 days between the registration of new medicines in Australia, by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), and a PBS listing.

We must ensure Australian patients have access to the same innovative medicines as other comparable countries. Investment in new medicines provided on the PBS is declining. It has also been 30 years since the program was reviewed, while medicines and health technologies have advanced significantly.

We therefore need urgent action to reform to our Health Technology Assessment (HTA) to make the PBS faster, fairer and fit for the future, and to ensure medicines are more appropriately valued, making Australia more attractive for new launches.

Urgent HTA reform, plus increased investment in the PBS, will demonstrate local action is underway and address some of the issues raised by the US administration. It will also improve recognition of the value in innovation of medicines and improve time to access.

Media enquiries to: Anne-Marie Sparrow, Medicines Australia /Cube – media@medicinesaustralia.com.au  or 0417 421 560