Zurich, September 20 – Novartis has increased its supplies of pharmaceutical products in the United States and is well prepared if its products are hit by President Donald Trump’s rates, the CEO said in an interview published on Saturday. Pharmaceutical products are currently exempt from the 39% rates imposed on Washington last month in Switzerland, although the industry awaits the outcome of an investigation that could lead to sectoral import tax. The US also reached a bilateral trade agreement with the European Union in July, which includes a 15% tariff on pharmaceutical products, except for some generic medicines. “We have significantly increased our stock in the US, so they will definitely last until mid -2026,” CEO Narrasimhan said to Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung. Novartis has already announced $ 23 billion to medium -term investments in the US and aims to manufacture its most important products for the US market locally, he added. “It is likely to take three to four years to get there. But I estimate that we can make significant shifts within the next two years, for example to execute some of the final filling and packaging in the US,” he said. “This should allow us to fully soften any rates.” Narasimhan said it was “difficult to estimate” or potential rates of up to 250%, following the investigation of Article 232 in Washington to the pharmaceutical industry, was realistic. “We are working on all possible scenarios and hope that the government realizes that the expansion of production in the US will take time,” he said. “But we will no longer have clarity until the so-called Article 232 investigation is completed,” he said. “We don’t know when the results will be available.” This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without edits to text.
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