Overview

• President Donald Trump said on Aug. 25 he will slash U.S. drug prices by 1,400% to 1,500% and reaffirmed plans for higher import tariffs on medicines.
• The White House sent notices to Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers, GSK, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi setting a Sept. 29 cutoff to comply.
• The directives instruct companies to offer their full portfolios to Medicaid at most‑favored‑nation rates for every patient.
• Trump warned that failure to meet the deadline would prompt his team to use "every tool in our arsenal" to confront what he calls abusive pricing.
• He described a tariff path that would start with a small duty, rise to 150% within 12 to 18 months, and could reach 250%, framing the push as a way to cut costs and bring manufacturing back to the U.S., even as he has revised tariff figures in prior statements.