Key points
- Trump announces plans to resurrect new policy regarding drug prices
- Decrease will be counterbalanced by higher costs in other countries: Trump
- Trump’s first plans failed due to strong opposition from pharmaceutical industry
ISLAMABAD: United States (US) President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he plans to resurrect a new policy from his first term that aims to reduce drug costs by basing payments for certain medicines on their prices in other countries, CNN reported.
“They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!” Trump wrote in a social media post, saying he planned to sign an executive order bringing the new policy into effect at 1300 GMT on Monday.
Trump said he planned to institute a “MOST FAVORED NATION’S” policy that pinned the cost of drugs sold in the United States to the lowest price paid by other countries for the same drug, AFP reported.
The decrease in prescription drug costs in the US would, he added, be counterbalanced by higher costs in other countries.
“Most favored nation”
“Most favored nation” status is a World Trade Organisation rule that aims to prevent discrimination between a country and its trading partners, levelling the playing field for international trade.
AFP reported that the White House did not immediately provide details of the plan. This is not the first time that Trump has attempted to lower US drug prices.
During his first 2017-2021 term in office, he announced a similar proposal to cut US drug prices, but his plans failed in the face of strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry.
Last month, Trump signed an executive order aiming to lower crippling drug prices by giving states more leeway to bargain-hunt abroad and improving the process for price negotiations.
