Trump targets Germany on drug prices, raising concerns for Switzerland

The United States is escalating its efforts to make other industrialized nations contribute more to the cost of drug development. President Donald Trump views Germany's planned healthcare reform, which aims to lower medication prices, as confirmation of his belief that American patients bear an unfair share of research and development expenses.

In response, the U.S. Trade Representative's office has launched a Section 301 investigation. This probe will determine if Germany's pricing practices are discriminatory or impede U.S. trade activities. The specific measures the U.S. might impose if the practice is deemed unfair remain undisclosed.

German lawmakers have explicitly cited the planned reform in a letter to U.S. officials, calling it an "outrageous" expansion of unfair practices. The timing of the U.S. investigation is seen as strategic, aiming to send a strong signal before Germany officially passes the reform. The vote, initially scheduled for the upcoming week, has been postponed to July 10, the final session day before the summer break, due to ongoing discussions.

The dispute over drug prices has already had repercussions, with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim announcing significant cuts to planned investments in Germany earlier in June. The article suggests that the U.S. may not stop with Germany, as senators' letters also mentioned Japan and other high-income countries, implying Switzerland could also be a target. The Swiss pharmaceutical industry might leverage the U.S. investigation against its own country's potential price control measures, such as volume discounts on high-revenue drugs.