Overview
- Interpharma's CEO said on June 26 that the United States could open a Section 301 trade investigation into Switzerland's drug pricing after Washington launched a similar probe into Germany.
- The U.S. opened a formal Section 301 probe of Germany's planned drug-pricing reforms on June 18 to examine whether foreign pricing policies unfairly shift innovation costs onto U.S. patients and firms.
- Republican members of Congress recently urged the U.S. Trade Representative and commerce secretary to use Section 301 against countries they say are 'free-riding' on U.S. consumers, naming Germany and Switzerland in their letter.
- Major Swiss firms including Roche and Novartis have taken defensive steps such as building U.S. stockpiles and planning domestic manufacturing while committing large U.S. investments under earlier tariff negotiations.
- The policy mix of fresh probes, past Section 232 tariff actions and negotiated tariff caps creates near-term risks for Swiss exporters, possible price effects for patients, and incentives for further reshoring of drug production.