New Delhi: US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on imports of branded and patented pharmaceutical drugs hit the shares of pharma companies in India on September 26, 2025.
“Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100 per cent Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Nifty Pharma index declined
At the time of writing this article, the Nifty Pharma index was trading with 2.3 percent loss. All stocks on the index were in the red. Top losers included Gland Pharma, Sun Pharma and Natco Pharma.
However, generic drug formulations will be exempt from this tariff. This could prove to be an opportunity for domestic pharmaceutical companies, which rely on generic drug exports to the US.
Pharma majors such as Aurobindo, Sun Pharma, Lupin and Dr Reddy’s, have long benefited from the demand for low-cost generic drugs in the United States. It may be noted that margins on generic products are low. If pharma firms are not able to increase prices, production could be halted, leading to drug shortages in the US.
If a situation arises , wherein tariffs are imposed on generic medicines in the future and Indian pharma companies are unable to shift production to the US, a threat could arise of production being stopped.
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