President Donald Trump hinted at a new trade tactic on Tuesday evening. Speaking at a White House event, which included Republican allies from Congress and his Cabinet, Trump said that if pharmaceutical companies and other countries don’t get behind his most favored nation policy to lower drug prices for Americans, then Trump would consider using trade to force their hand.
During the president’s roughly hour-long address at the Tuesday night event, he predicted the policies of his administration could lead to as much as a 1,000% decrease in drug prices for Americans, if his plan comes to fruition. The event the president spoke at was largely about celebrating GOP wins during his first six months, but on occasion the president spoke to some of his policies, such as the most favored nation drug pricing provision.
“We’re working very hard right now to get the other countries to lift up their prices a little bit, and to get the drug companies to put it to them. And if they don’t, the drug companies will have a lot of problems,” Trump said Tuesday. “And if the countries don’t, and as an example, if it’s Europe, I’ll say, ‘That’s okay. You no longer are allowed to sell cars in America. You no longer are allowed to have Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen or any of the other many cars.’ And they will say, ‘Oh, I love the idea of lower drug prices for America.'”
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Trump’s most favored nation policy would peg U.S. drug prices, considered the highest in the world, to the lowest price paid by other developed countries. However, due to the U.S. being such a lucrative market for these companies, the process may require countries to lift their prices slightly so that manufacturers feel more comfortable about pegging U.S. prices to them.
During Trump’s speech he recalled a familiar story of a friend of his who the president said was taking Ozempic, which the president refers to as “the fat drug,” and was able to obtain the drug for $88 in Europe, while he pays around $1,300 in the United States.
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“Same factory, same company that makes it. Same everything,” Trump said Tuesday.
“I explained to him that that’s the way it’s been for many, many years, where people actually go to Europe in order to buy drugs. When they come back, they’re loaded up. In fact, sometimes they get arrested for having so much they think they’re drug addicts. They just buy months of supply because it’s sometimes one tenth, one eighth, one fifth, one half. It’s a tremendous difference.”
Trump signed an executive order in May instructing federal agencies, such as the Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to begin putting this most favored nation policy into action.
At the moment, the program is voluntary but no final agreements have been made.
