Medicine tariffs would harm Iowans

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President Donald Trump’s new tariffs present Iowa businesses and workers with enormous opportunities, but also pose massive potential challenges.

The president’s goal is clear and worthy. He’s seeking to force other countries to end their unfair trade practices, and thus give American exporters a fair chance to thrive in international markets. Iowa’s farmers know all too well how other countries erect trade barriers to protect their domestic companies and block out America’s superior agricultural products.

But tariffs can also lead to severe consequences in the form of higher prices for consumers and businesses and in retaliatory measures that other countries take against our exporters.

The president’s top advisers have acknowledged the need for a balanced approach. That’s especially true when it comes to tariffs on medicines, which President Donald Trump promised to announce in ” the very near future.”

But the president hasn’t indicated the scope of those tariffs. He could protect consumers and businesses here in Iowa and across America by only placing tariffs on medicines and medical ingredients from China.

China accounts for 8% of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in American-consumed medicines. And the communist dictatorship has already retaliated against the president’s tariffs by restricting exports of rare earth minerals.

If China were to abruptly restrict the export of medical ingredients in the future, it could lead to drug shortages. To protect our national security, placing medicine tariffs on China makes sense.

Importing medicines and ingredients from allies like Europe and India, by contrast, doesn’t threaten national security. There’s no reason to impose tariffs on those imports, especially since people can’t simply choose to buy American.

We rely heavily on these allies. In 2023 alone, America imported$138 billion in pharmaceutical products from Europe and India. Tariffs would also disrupt American manufacturers that use ingredients from these regions. Europe and India account for 52% of active pharmaceutical ingredients in U.S. medicines.

With so many medicines affected, many Americans would have no way to avoid the rising prices that the tariffs would cause. Tariffs would also induce drug shortages, which would be especially devastating for the nearly four in 10 Iowans who live in rural areas and may only have a single pharmacy in their community.

Widespread tariffs on all drugs would also harm Iowa’s growing bioscience sector, which employs more than 25,000 workers. Cedar Rapids is home to leading manufacturers like JRS Pharma. Eighty percent of U.S. biotechs say they expect it to take over a year to identify new suppliers due to tariffs, while 44% expect it to take more than two years.

We need to ensure that America isn’t reliant on China for critical medicines. But we can be tough on trade and smart about it, too. That means making sure tariffs on medicines are reserved exclusively for countries that pose a clear danger to our national security.

Thad Nearmyer is a member of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors. Nearmyer is a farmer and the former chairman of the Jasper County Republican Party.

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