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Xinmei Shen

US President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs targeting imported branded pharmaceutical products would “barely dent” the operations of major Chinese drug makers, according to analysts.
The new 100 per cent tariff on any branded or patented pharmaceutical product would apply to all imports, according to Trump’s post on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday. Exemptions, however, would cover firms that have already broken ground on building a manufacturing plant in the US.
Drugs are part of a broad range of imported goods that Trump took aim at on Thursday, including kitchen cabinets and heavy duty trucks. The new duties would take effect on October 1, he said.
The proposed tariffs are “not a big concern” for Chinese drug makers, as these firms have “minimal drug sales exposure to the US”, analysts at US investment bank Jefferies wrote in a research note titled “Tariffs Barely Dent China’s Healthcare Powerhouses” published on Friday.
Most Chinese biotech firms, or pre-commercialisation drug developers, have expanded their market reach in the US in recent years through licensing deals with multinational pharmaceutical companies. They have US partners and are “immune” to tariffs, according to Jefferies.
These firms are protected because they are still “at least one to two years away from potential US commercialisation”. Their revenue comes from royalties instead of direct drug sales, Jefferies said.

The new tariffs would also be “manageable” for Chinese pharmaceutical contract service providers, according to the Jefferies report, because they already have facilities in the US. The higher manufacturing costs there would be shouldered by their customers, which are multinational pharmaceutical companies, the report said.
Some Chinese drug makers played down the new tariffs' impact on the back of local supply chain capabilities in the US.
Hangzhou-based Yifan Pharmaceuticals said its drug Ryzneuta – a treatment for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, in which the body has low levels of a type of white blood cell called neutrophils – is made by contract service providers in the US, with packaging and shipping done in Germany, according to a report by Chinese online news outlet Cailian Press.
Yifan said the proposed tariffs would have no substantial impact on Ryzneuta’s sales, the report said. The company also said it planned to ship the drug locally from the US as soon as next year.
In the same report on Friday, Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical said it was still evaluating whether its products would be affected by Trump’s new tariffs. The company has a production capacity of 7 billion tablets in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Trump’s fresh tariffs come as geopolitical threats continue to loom over China’s healthcare industry.
The Trump administration earlier this month was reportedly considering curbing licensing deals with China-based firms, following repeated attempts by US lawmakers to restrict businesses with Chinese biotech companies.
The Biosecure Act, for example, aimed to block Chinese biotech firms – including contract service providers WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics – from federally funded contracts. The bill was introduced in September 2024, but failed to pass into law.


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Chinese drug makers have ‘minimal sales exposure to the US’, Jefferies analysts say


Chinese drug makers have ‘minimal sales exposure to the US’, Jefferies analysts say.


Trump’s tariffs on imported drugs ‘not a big concern’ for China’s pharma firms: Jefferies

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chinese drug makers have ‘minimal sales exposure to the US’, Jefferies analysts say

Chinese drug makers have ‘minimal sales exposure to the US’, Jefferies analysts say