ORANGE CITY, Fla. — President Donald Trump says he's planning to target the pharmaceutical industry with tariffs.
During an event April 8, he said his goal is to bring production back to the U.S.
In Orange City at Accardi Clinical Pharmacy, clinical pharmacist J. Roger Accardi says potential tariffs for the pharmaceutical industry could present challenges he doesn’t want to see happen.
“If we can’t get those raw materials to manufacture, be it our cardio meds, blood pressure meds, diabetic stuff, if we can’t get the stuff, then it presents another whole issue,” Accardi said.
As the word tariff becomes a part of Americans’ daily lives, Accardi says it will be a tough pill to swallow.
“It will lead to higher costs and that’s not a maybe. It will lead to higher costs but worse yet, there will be shortages. We will not have access to everything we had before,” Accardi said.
Accardi says the medications people need every day could be hard to come by.
“We start looking for alternatives, natural meds, acupuncture, physical therapy, other ways in which to mitigate the pain,” Accardi said.
Even though there’s uncertainty as to what could happen, Accardi says what you can do now is keep in touch with your doctor.
“If you have questions, ask them. I would ask that you not made decisions on your own,” Accardi said.
For years, most countries, including the United States, have imposed few or no tariffs on finished drugs.
This is in part due to the 1995 World Trade Organization agreement aimed at keeping medicines affordable.
