Industry Calls for Raising “Use of Domestic Medicines” to 40%; U.S. Tariff Hike Expected to Drive Up Costs and Reshape Supply Chains, Raising Risks of Shortages for Chronic Disease and Cancer Medicines

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States will impose a 100% tariff on imported generic drugs beginning in 2028, with the rate increasing to 200% one year later. While Taiwan's pharmaceutical sector believes the policy will have limited short-term impact on domestic drug prices and supply, it warns that the resulting restructuring of global pharmaceutical supply chains could threaten the long-term stability of medicine supplies. Industry stakeholders therefore argue that Taiwan should accelerate efforts to promote the use and production of domestically manufactured medicines to strengthen pharmaceutical self-sufficiency.

Huang Jin-shun (黃金舜), Honorary Chairman of the Federation of Taiwan Pharmacist Associations, pointed out that the U.S. has been actively encouraging the reshoring of critical medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in recent years.  If the production of generic drugs gradually shifts to the United States, it will increase manufacturing costs and lengthen delivery times; some low-margin generic drugs may even be withdrawn from the market, further exacerbating supply pressures for medications used to treat chronic diseases and cancer.

Huang pointed out that approximately 80% of Taiwan's medicines are imported, while domestically manufactured products account for only about 16% of utilization. Given Taiwan's geopolitical risks, he suggested increasing the use of domestic medicines to 30–40% in order to enhance pharmaceutical resilience and reduce dependence on overseas supply chains.

Yang Po-wen (楊博文), Senior Technical Specialist of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), said that the U.S. tariff policy currently has no direct impact on Taiwan's exports of generic drugs or the domestic medicine supply. He noted that the Executive Yuan has approved the National Pharmaceutical Resilience Preparedness Program (2026–2029), which aims to promote domestic production and use of medicines, establish smart strategic stockpiles and drug supply monitoring systems, encourage local manufacturing of critical medicines, and increase the utilization of domestically produced generic drugs to strengthen Taiwan's pharmaceutical supply resilience.

Yin Wei-ying (殷為瑩), Chair of the Public Affairs Committee of the Taiwan Generic Pharmaceutical Association, stated that higher U.S. tariffs on imported generic drugs will inevitably increase the production costs of generic drugs worldwide, making it even more urgent for Taiwan to advance policies supporting the domestic production and use of medicines. She called on the Ministry of Health and Welfare to promptly convene industry representatives to discuss countermeasures, with the goal of establishing a two-year action plan to strengthen Taiwan's pharmaceutical resilience and better safeguard the country's medicine supply against future global supply chain disruptions.

【2026-07-23/ ChinaTimes】