London (AFP) – British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced Tuesday that it has begun moving some of its European production to the United States, ahead of President Donald Trump’s possible tariffs on the sector. “Our company is firmly committed to investing and growing in the US,” chief executive Pascal Soriot said in an earnings statement, which also reported that first-quarter profit rose by over 30 percent to $2.92 billion.
The United States earlier in April opened the door to potential tariffs targeting pharmaceuticals, which have so far benefited from exemptions to Trump’s sweeping levies on imports from trading partners. Trump has also imposed a series of sector-specific levies, slapping tariffs on imports of steel, aluminium and autos, before launching a “national security” investigation into pharmaceutical imports. AstraZeneca could become exposed to US levies on its European-made products, but Soriot stressed that the impact would be limited due to the ongoing shift in production.
“The limit of the exposure we have relates to exporting products from Europe to the US,” Soriot said on an earnings call. “We are in the process of shifting the manufacturing of those products to the US,” he added. The United States is a key market for the pharmaceutical industry, and AstraZeneca had already planned to invest $3.5 billion there by the end of 2026. Soriot said earlier in the year that he hoped the US will account for around half of AstraZeneca’s global revenue by 2030.
Other pharmaceutical companies have also announced plans to increase investments in the United States. AstraZeneca reconfirmed its outlook on Tuesday, saying it remains on track to achieve its target of $80 billion in annual revenue by the end of the decade. Its first-quarter profit in 2025 benefited from strong growth in its cancer drug sales and biopharmaceuticals. During the quarter, it generated 42 percent of its revenue in the United States, followed by 20 percent in Europe.
© 2024 AFP
