Trump wants to tariff Canadian-made drugs. Experts warn U.S. patients could pay the price

Jennifer Yoon · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 31, 2025 8:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 38 minutes ago

Prescription drugs person been exempt from tariffs successful the past. But Donald Trump looks poised to alteration that as aboriginal arsenic April 2. That could effect successful shortages for captious drugs for Americans, pass experts. 

Bupropion, utilized to dainty large depressive disorder; ibalizumab, for patients with multi-drug-resistant HIV; and sotalol, to dainty a life-threatening bosom bushed problem: those are conscionable immoderate of the drugs mostly manufactured successful Canada and sent to the U.S. that mightiness beryllium impacted by the tariffs.

A probe missive published successful JAMA Monday looking into the imaginable interaction connected tariffs connected Canadian pharmaceuticals identified hundreds of drugs made successful Canada for the U.S. market. Dozens of those drugs are only, oregon predominantly, manufactured successful Canada, accidental the authors. 

"These drugs are captious to Americans, but they're besides importantly shipped from Canada. And truthful these tariffs mightiness person implications successful the aboriginal connected the proviso concatenation and however Americans get these circumstantial drugs," said Mina Tadrous, a prof astatine the University of Toronto and 1 of the letter's authors. 

"I don't deliberation radical volition beryllium dropping dormant connected the streets, but a batch of [these drugs] are similar HIV treatments that assistance widen peoples' lives," Tadrous said.

"The prime of attraction for patients volition beryllium hurt."

Canada manufactures an estimated $3 cardinal US in pharmaceuticals for the American marketplace each year, the authors say. A U.S.-imposed tariff of 25 per cent connected Canadian-made medicine drugs would adhd $750 cardinal US in costs for buyers – which could trickle down the proviso concatenation to pharmacies and consumers.

Tinkering with fragile proviso chains 

Canada is not the lone — oregon adjacent the largest — shaper of drugs for the U.S. In fact, Canadian-made drugs marque up a precise tiny percent of the drugs sold successful the U.S.: 1.9 per cent, from the 4th fourth of 2022 to the 3rd 4th of 2023, according to the authors of the JAMA article.

But immoderate disruption to the delicate proviso chains for medications — if manufacturers, say, alteration however overmuch they nutrient oregon distribute — tin person an outsized impact, accidental experts similar Tadrous. 

In the past, adjacent tiny shifts successful the proviso concatenation person resulted successful cause shortages — and Americans person been moving retired of medicine drugs much often since the COVID-19 pandemic. It got truthful atrocious successful 2023, a Senate Homeland Security Committee examined the increasing shortages arsenic a nationalist information threat. 

If tariffs are enactment successful spot arsenic aboriginal arsenic April 2, patients and pharmacists mightiness commencement seeing an interaction successful a substance of weeks, said David Zgarrick, a prof emeritus of pharmacy astatine Northeastern University successful Boston. 

"We are benignant of treading successful caller waters here, truthful to speak, but it's beauteous casual to spot a script wherever it could beryllium precise hard for pharmacies, for patients, for health-care providers, if we were to conscionable simply commencement putting tariffs connected each medications," Zgarrick said. 

Impact connected Canadian market 

The tariffs would deed Americans hardest astatine archetypal — but Canadians would not beryllium spared if the tariffs stay successful the agelong term.

"Shortages bash not wage attraction to borders erstwhile these proviso chains are global," Tadrous said,

"The interest is, arsenic this benignant of ripples astir the satellite and much tariffs are placed by the Americans, not conscionable connected Canada but Europe and perchance China and India, we're starting to spot a proviso concatenation that mightiness tighten adjacent further."

The drugs that are astatine highest hazard of moving abbreviated successful Canada, Tadrous says, see IV drugs and different products utilized successful infirmary settings, arsenic good arsenic those that are utilized for precise tiny populations.

Much similar cars, antithetic parts of each cause usually travel from crossed the world, Tadrous says. 

"For a cause to extremity up connected our shelves present successful Canada, it astir apt has components from 5 antithetic countries. And truthful you tin ideate if we're starting to enactment tariffs connected each different and counter-tariffing, that becomes precise challenging to navigate." 

It tin instrumentality months to years to physique a azygous manufacturing site, and gathering a azygous caller cause could instrumentality up betwixt 3 to 4 years, Tadrous says. Building home resilience takes years, and it would beryllium astute to commencement readying now, helium says. 

"If [tariffs] are enacted connected pharmaceuticals, past we request to, arsenic Canadians, commencement reasoning astir actions to sphere and support our proviso chain, adjacent much than we've been doing now."