European pharma companies warn Trump's tariffs could expedite shift to US

By Ludwig Burger and Maggie Fick

FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) -European pharma companies warned the European Commission president at a meeting on Tuesday that U.S. tariffs would expedite the industry's shift away from Europe and toward the United States.

Pharma trade lobby EFPIA, whose members include European pharma giants Bayer, Novartis and Novo Nordisk, said it had called on EU President Ursula von der Leyen to push for "rapid and radical action" to mitigate the "risk of exodus" to the United States.

Pharmaceuticals were exempt from sweeping tariffs on U.S. imports announced by U.S. President Donald Trump last week but he has said they will face separate tariffs.

EFPIA said the EU needs to change its regulatory framework for the industry to make it more conducive to innovation and strengthen Europe's intellectual property provisions.

The demands were not new. EFPIA has repeatedly warned that Europe's pharma sector will lose out to increased competition from the U.S., China and emerging markets if the EU does not amend a proposed revamp of laws governing the sector.

"Now with the addition of tariffs, there is little incentive to invest in the EU and significant drivers to relocate to the U.S.," the EFPIA statement read.

The Commission did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The CEOs of EU-headquartered pharma companies as well as biotech lobby Europabio and generics trade group Medicines for Europe were invited to the meeting, but Europe's largest generics maker, Sandoz, told Reuters it was not.

Europe and the U.S. have interconnected supply chains for medicines. The U.S. depends on medicines partly produced in Europe that bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue.

EU medical and pharmaceutical product exports to the United States totalled about 90 billion euros ($97.05 billion) in 2023, according to latest Eurostat data.

European pharma giants have recently been expanding production facilities in the United States.

The United States is the biggest pharma market by sales for big pharma companies, both U.S. and European headquartered ones. Sales in North America accounted for nearly 50% of world pharmaceutical sales in 2021, compared with nearly 25% for Europe, according to EFPIA.

The European Commission on Monday proposed counter-tariffs of 25% on a range of U.S. goods, including soybeans, nuts and motorcycles.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Maggie Fick in London, Additional reporting by Julia Payne in Brussels; Editing by Alison Williams and Susan Fenton)