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President Donald Trump's steep rates in Canada, Mexico and China can aggravate existing drug shortages in the US, increase health care costs for patients and threaten generic drug makers with cash, some drug trafficking groups warn.
Trump announced on Saturday that he would impose a rate of 25% on almost all goods sent from Canada and Mexico and a cost of 10% on the import from China, all of whom would come into effect on Tuesday. On Monday, the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, said that the US would delay its proposed rates for the country for a month after Mexico corresponded to strengthen safety on the border.
Trump has said that the rates will remain in force until the three countries stop the flow of fentanyl and immigrants without papers to the US
But the import tax comes as the American struggles with an unprecedented shortage of crucial medicine, ranging from injectable cancer therapies to generic medicines, or cheaper versions of brand medicines, which hospitals and patients have forced ration medicines. It is also because many Americans have difficulty paying the high costs of prescribed medicines.
The US is highly dependent on other countries for pharmaceutical products, especially for generic medicines. These drugs form 90% of Americans' recipes, so rates may threaten the access of many patients to affordable treatments.
China in particular is a large supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, for both brand name and generic medicines due to lower production costs in the country. APIs are the most important part of a medicine that causes the desired effect of the treatment. Some generic medicines are made entirely abroad.
The rates can “increase problematic shortages of medicines” by forcing generic manufacturers from the market because of low profit margins, according to a statement from John Murphy, CEO of the Association for accessible medicines, which represents generic pharmaceutical companies.
“Generic manufacturers simply cannot absorb new costs,” said Murphy Sunday. “Our manufacturers sell at an extremely low price, sometimes at a loss, and are increasingly forced to leave markets where they are under water.”
At the Trump administration he insisted on releasing generic products of rates, and added that the total value of all generic turnover in the US in five years has fallen by $ 6.4 billion despite “growth in volume “And new generic drug launches.
The Healthcare Distribution Alliance, which represents 40 medicinal distributors, has also called on the Trump administration to reconsider, including pharmaceutical products in rates. In a statement on Sunday, the group said that the rates would burden the pharmaceutical supply chain and 'the American patients can adversely affect', whether it is now due to increased medical product costs or manufacturers who leave the market.
The group said that the rates will put extra pressure on an industry that is already in financial need, and notes that distributors work on low profit margins of only 0.3%.
The US is likely to see 'new and worsened shortages of important medicines', and those costs will be passed on to payers and patients, including patients in the medicine and Medicaid programs, “said the Alliance in Healthcare.
An estimate of the budget laboratory at Yale University said that the long -term prices of pharmaceutical products in the US will be 1.1% higher after services in the supply chain.
Pharmaceutical research and manufacturers of America, which represents pharmaceutical companies, said in a statement that it shares Trump's goal to ensure that the US preserves its “worldwide leadership in biofarmaceutical innovation and production”.
Trade measures must focus on “tackling unfair practices abroad and guaranteeing our intellectual property,” the group added.
Medical
The US also relies on overseas production for medical devices, with many important components and finished products that come from countries such as China, Mexico and India.
For example, Intuitive surgicalWho last week robot surgical systems produces in his annual report that a “significant majority” of the instruments and accessories of the company is manufactured in Mexicali, Mexico.
Rates for the country would “increase the costs of our products made in Mexico and adversely affect our gross profit,” the company said.
Advamed, the largest association of medical devices worldwide, urged the Trump administration to release medical products from the rates. In a statement, the group said that import tax could lead to shortages of critical medical technologies, higher prices for patients and payers and fewer investments in research and development.
The rates and associated costs are essentially functioning as 'an excise duty in practice', said Advamed, and noted that Trump offered a carve-out for a large part of the medical technology sector when he imposed rates on China during his first term .
Rates can also influence hospitals, which depend on imports for daily supplies, such as dresses, gloves and spraying, together with larger items such as X -ray equipment.
But the American Medical Manufacturers Association, which argues for American companies that produce medical personal protective equipment, or PPE, supports the rates for China and increase domestic production of those products.
In a statement on Monday, the group said that the rates acknowledge that China “has not changed its ways and remains anti-competitive and dangerous behavior that damages the American PPE and medical food manufacturers and threatens our supply chains and national security.”