The European pharmaceutical sector is not only one of the industrial jewels of the continent, but also one of its great export powers. It represents about 2.7% of the European GDP, gives employment to more than 865,000 people and, only in 2024, the European Union (EU) exported pharmaceutical and medicinal products worth 313.4 billion euros, 13.5% more compared to 2023. This increase, together with the modest promotion of imports, allowed the block a commercial surplus close to 200,000 million euros in this area. Trump's return to the White House revives the will to reduce the commercial imbalance between both regions. And it is that the EU exports to the United States (USA) up to three times more than what matters from the first world economy in pharmaceutical products, totaling 120,000 million with its main partner and being the destination of 38% of its total sales. This interdependence is now at risk before the recent threats of the Trump administration to impose tariff rates on European pharmaceutical goods. The commercial war is also mixed with the complaint of a very high domestic pharmaceutical expense, where the price of medicines in the US is paid on average that in the EU.A the waiting for events, the European pharmaceutical sector has undertaking an ace under the sleeve in the predictable negotiating process, representing a high proportion of the apparent American consumption. Specifically, the value of imports from the EU is close to 30% of the total consumption of pharmaceutical products in the US, which implies that the imposition of generalized tariffs to the sector could increase the prices of many medications produced in Europe and consumed in the US. Attachment to the pharmaceutical products would thus be counterproductive for the US, in an industry with high levels of investment and long levels of investment and long planning cycles. In this context, European companies would have difficulty relocating production in the United States in the medium term, which would again increase the probability that imported medicines are envisous. In spite of everything, tariff imposition threats begin to have their effect in European companies, with advertisement for millionaire investments on American land by companies such as Roche or Novartis. This relocation generates criticism, in the industrial and political sphere, given the lack of regulatory and fiscal competitiveness and the carelessness of commitments to the European industrial fabric. In short, the sectorial imposition of rates seems complicated, given the special status of this type of products, the possibility of generating a shortage of medicines in the market, which enhances prices, or the already wide presence at the infrastructure level, R&D, manufacturing and sales of the European pharmaceutical industry in the US sector. In commercial diplomacy, sometimes it is enough to show the recipe to start changing the treatment. Pedro Sastre is a senior market strategy analyst marches
