Donald Trump’s 100% tariffs spell trouble for Indian pharma — A look at export stats

India's pharmaceutical exports to the United States has come to the spotlight after President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he is imposing a 100 per cent tariff on branded and patented pharmaceutical imports.

The new US tariffs on medicines will come into effect on October 1, Trump announced in a Truth Social post.

“Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America. “IS BUILDING” will be defined as, “breaking ground” and/or “under construction.” There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started,” Trump announced on Truth Social.

Neither him nor the White House have yet provided an explanation as to how these tariffs would be implemented.

India's pharma exports to US

The United States is a major market for India in terms of exporting its pharmaceutical products.

The sector, in general for India, is export-heavy. India's annual drug and pharmaceutical exports touched a record $30 billion in FY25 bolstered by a 31 per cent year-on-year surge in March.

According to a government release, drug and pharmaceutical exports to other countries increased by 6.94 per cent from $2.35 billion in August 2024 to $2.51 billion in August 2025 alone.

As per data from the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), India's pharma exports to the US in FY25 stood at $10.5 billion, a jump of 20.43 per cent year-on-year, accounting for 34.51 per cent of the total exports.

India, often dubbed as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’, ranks third in the world by volume and 14th in terms of production value of pharmaceuticals.

In the first half of 2025 alone, pharmaceutical shipments worth $3.7 billion (approximately ₹32,505 crore) were sent overseas.

Which companies will be affected?

While Donald Trump's pharma tariffs have spared generic drugs, which is India's main export to the US, Indian companies are bracing for impact of the announcement.

Leading companies such as Dr. Reddy's, Aurobindo Pharma, Zydus Lifesciences, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Gland Pharma derive between 30-50 per cent of their overall revenues from the American market.

The impact was felt at the Indian stock markets on Friday as Sensex and Nifty opened in red.

The Nifty Pharma index dropped sharply by 2.42 per cent, touching an intraday low of 21,445.50. Sun Pharma slipped 4.87 per cent to a new 52-week low of ₹1,548, while Gland Pharma fell 4.70 per cent to ₹1,880. Biocon was down 3.68 per cent at ₹342.85. Other leading pharmaceutical companies, including Laurus Labs, Ipca Labs, Divis, Zydus Life, Alkem Labs, Cipla, Ajanta Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Torrent Pharma, Abbott India, and Glenmark, also opened lower in the range of 0.8 to 3.2 per cent.