The United States and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement to keep tariffs on UK pharmaceutical exports to the US at zero for the next three years.
Under the deal, the UK will increase NHS spending on medicines and raise the price threshold for new treatments by 25%, ensuring that drug companies continue to supply the health system without overspending. In return, UK pharmaceutical exports to the US, which totalled £11.1bn in the 12 months to September, accounting for 17.4% of all UK goods exports will be protected from tariff hikes.
The agreement comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100% on branded drug imports, arguing that American consumers were subsidising medicine costs for other developed countries. US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. described the deal as a way to balance US–UK pharmaceutical trade while supporting innovation.
The tariff-free arrangement follows a period of uncertainty that saw pharmaceutical investments in the UK paused or cancelled, while companies like GSK and AstraZeneca announced multi-billion-dollar investments in the US. UK Science Minister Sir Patrick Vallance stressed the need for the NHS to increase medicine spending, after years of budget pressures on drug procurement.