Overview
- At a Dec. 19 rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, President Trump said he told Emmanuel Macron he would impose 25% tariffs on French exports unless France raised medicine prices.
- Trump said Macron eventually replied “Marché conclu,” an account the Élysée calls nonsensical given how drug prices are set in France.
- Hours before the speech, reports said nine major pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi, reached deals with the administration to cut some U.S. prices in exchange for tariff exemptions.
- Officials have previously announced similar agreements with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which the administration presents as steps in a broader pricing plan.
- Coverage cites research indicating prescription drugs cost roughly 2.5 times less in France than in the United States, a disparity the White House uses to justify its approach.