00:01100%. That's how much U.S. President Donald Trump is taxing imports for patented medicines
00:06in an executive order signed Thursday. The presidential announcement said an investigation
00:12found that 53% of patented medicine distributed around the United States
00:17comes from outside the country and that the U.S.'s reliance on imports is a national security risk.
00:24The tariffs then moved to bring supply chains into the country.
00:28There are exemptions. The EU, Japan, and South Korea, among others, will receive a 15% tariff
00:36instead based on their trade agreements with the U.S. But Taiwan, which struck a trade deal with
00:43Washington earlier this year, is not on that list. The White House says that's because some
00:48pharmaceutical products are not covered under the agreement. The cabinet told Taiwan Plus that it
00:54will communicate with Washington to secure a better tariff rate for Taiwanese pharmaceutical
00:58companies exporting patented drugs there. Health officials, though, say they're still assessing
01:04what the impact will be. Official figures show that Taiwan exported over 300 million U.S. dollars
01:19worth of pharmaceuticals to the U.S. in 2024, with around 14% of those patented drugs.
01:26But healthcare experts say the new levies may also impact the availability of medications in Taiwan.
01:50The White House says companies can still try to strike a deal with the U.S. to avoid the 100
01:56%
01:56tariff. Big companies have 120 days, while smaller companies have 180 days, meaning Taiwan will have
02:04to act fast for medicine manufacturers to be spared from the hit.
02:08Chris Ma and Leslie Liao for Taiwan Plus.
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