India’s Pharma Minister Meets Industry Leaders as Trump’s Tariff Threats Loom
On the 25th of November, Piyush Goyal, India’s Commerce Minister, had a discussion with leading pharma company leaders and spoke about growing the country’s drug industry and making regulations smoother.
The minister shared on social media that they had a productive conversation about making India stronger in the global medicine market. There were so many things discussed like protecting the company data, encouraging new drug discoveries, getting more investments, and to increase the manufacturing of medicine in India.
Goyal also said that the Modi Government is focused on building a modern pharma sector that is ready for the future. It should also compete globally and attract good investments. The final goal is to still keep medicines affordable for everyone.
Worry about the Trump Tariff
The purpose of this meeting was because the drug companies all over the country are nervously waiting and looking for what they might hear from America. Back in September there was an announcement from Trump that he is planning to impose a massive tax of 100% on branded and patented medicines. He was planning to start this from October and this tax is avoidable only if the companies build their factories on American soil.
But as of now, nothing has been implemented yet.
Why Indian Companies Aren’t Panicking
Surprisingly, all the Indian Pharma Companies are very relaxed in spite of all the uncertainties. The answer for this was explained by Sudarshan Jain from the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance. He said that India mainly exports generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients to the US, which aren’t covered under Trump’s announced tariff.
Generic drugs are nothing but the cheaper versions of medicines that come out after the original patent expires. For analogy, you can think of them as the store-brand versions of big-name drugs.
Power of India’s Medicine
India plays a huge role the global healthcare and this is all because of the statistics and numbers. The US is India’s biggest customer for medicines as it buys around 31% of all Indian pharmaceutical exports. Especially when it comes to generic drugs, America takes nearly half of what India sells abroad.
The recent statistics tell that last September, India shipped 2.62 billion dollar worth of medicines and drugs to the United States.
Industry experts believe India’s strong position in the affordable generic drugs market gives it an upper hand and safe space against these kinds of policy changes. Additionally, the government keeps pushing for innovation and better manufacturing. This will in turn keep the growth going forward and stronger in the upcoming years.
