CANBERRA: The Australian government is very concerned about US threats to impose increased tariffs on pharmaceutical and copper imports, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.
Chalmers told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio that the federal government is urgently seeking clarification from the US after President Donald Trump flagged new tariffs of 200 per cent on pharmaceuticals and 50 per cent on copper.
Speaking in Washington on Tuesday local time, Trump said that pharmaceutical companies would be granted a grace period to move production to the US before the tariff is imposed.
Chalmers said that less than 1 percent of Australian copper exports currently go to the US but that the developments around pharmaceuticals are much more concerning.
“We’ll work through the announcement out of the US overnight. They’re obviously very concerning developments. We are talking about billions of dollars of exports to the US when it comes to pharmaceuticals,” he said.
According to the United Nations’ Comtrade database, Australian pharmaceutical exports to the US were worth 2.2 billion Australian dollars (US$1.4 billion) in 2024, representing 44.8 per cent of the total value of Australian pharmaceutical exports.
The US administration in April identified Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) as a trade grievance prior to Trump announcing sweeping global tariffs.
The federal government subsidises the cost of over 900 different medicines through the PBS, which has been criticised by the US pharmaceutical industry as anti-competitive.
Chalmers on Wednesday said he wants to make it clear that the government will not “trade away or do deals on” the PBS in trade negotiations. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
