Semiconductor and pharma probes proceed, EU talks make ‘little progress’

On Monday, the Trump administration opened a probe into pharmaceutical imports, and the president pledged that pharma tariffs would come within the “not-too-distant future.”

“We do not make our personal medication anymore,” Trump stated in a media look, as my colleague Brett LoGiurato documented right here. “All I’ve to do is impose a tariff. The upper the tariff, the sooner they arrive.”

Trump has repeatedly singled out Europe — Eire, particularly — as a goal for tariffs.

However latest stories recommend that if tariffs do come, Eire and its US prospects will not be fully caught off guard. Reuters stories that Eire has been speeding to ship prescription drugs and medical merchandise to the US forward of tariffs, together with by air.

Irish pharma exports to the US surged by greater than 450% from the earlier 12 months in February from 1.9 billion euros to 10.5 billion euros, Eire’s Central Statistics Workplace stated. Exports additionally spiked by 130% in January to 9.4 billion euros, suggesting US drugmakers could also be stockpiling medicines.

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