US Exempts India and 19 Other Nations From 100% Tariff on Specialty Drugs
As Trump's broad pharmaceutical tariff takes full effect, select countries qualify for zero duties on rare-disease treatments and advanced therapies via trade and security framework agreements.
The US Commerce Department published a Federal Register notice on September 23 exempting India and 19 other nations from the 100% tariff on specified patented pharmaceuticals, which took full effect on September 29. The exemption applies to specialty medicines used for rare conditions, fertility treatments, advanced cell and gene therapies, antibody-drug conjugates, and veterinary pharmaceuticals, along with their manufacturing components. The eligible countries—including Argentina, Bangladesh, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom—qualify for zero-duty treatment because they maintain current or forthcoming trade and security framework agreements with the US. The announcement follows President Trump's April 2026 proclamation imposing 100% tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act on patented pharmaceutical imports and ingredients as a measure to incentivize domestic drug manufacturing. Generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars remain outside the tariff scope. For India, the world's largest generic exporter by volume, the relief applies only to specialty drugs; Indian shipments to the US were worth approximately $10 billion in the year ended March 2025, representing roughly 35% of the country's pharmaceutical export sector.
How could this affect you
Traced by who's actually in the path of this — not everyone is.
Direct
Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers producing specialty drugs, rare-disease treatments, and advanced therapies
Zero-tariff exemption allows duty-free import of specified specialty pharmaceutical products to the US market, reducing cost barriers for these product categories while patented generics face 100% tariffs
Likely
US patients relying on specialty medications imported from India
Zero-tariff status on specialty drugs could help stabilize pricing and supply chain access for rare-disease treatments, cell therapies, and fertility medications, whereas 100% tariffs on other patented drugs could raise costs
Likely
US pharmaceutical manufacturers of patented drugs without trade deals
Competitors importing from exempted countries face zero duties on specialty products while facing 100% tariffs themselves, unless they have negotiated Most Favored Nation pricing agreements or pledge domestic manufacturing
Sources
Every claim here traces back to reporting you can read yourself.
