The U.S. has opened a Section 301 trade investigation into a German plan to cut
drug spending, a move that could result in tariffs. The Trump administration
said the probe targets what it describes as Germany’s long-standing low-price
procurement of innovative medicines. U.S. Trade Representative Greer said
President Trump has made clear the global cost of pharmaceutical R&D should not
be disproportionately borne by U.S. patients. The inquiry was triggered by
Germany’s April package requires deeper manufacturer discounts, which Berlin
says will save the public health system tens of billions of dollars annually to
plug an expected funding shortfall. Bernd Lange, chair of the European
Parliament’s international trade committee, called the U.S. move an interference
with sovereignty.
