UK-US Trade Deal: What's in it for Pharma?

Hopes were high that the new UK-US trade deal would clear things up for one of Britain’s biggest exports—pharmaceuticals. Alas.

Sure, the UK scored the first deal with the US since Donald Trump slapped on new tariffs back in April. But despite the hype about it being "full and comprehensive," pharma didn’t so much as get a mention when Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced their ‘agreement in principle.’ Instead, the focus was on cars, where US tariffs fell from 27.5% to 10%, and steel/aluminium, now tariff-free.

Trump hasn’t hit medicines with tariffs (yet), so maybe it was wishful thinking to expect them to be part of this deal. The UK government did say talks will keep going on other sectors—including pharma—but for now, the industry is left waiting.

Downing Street claims the UK will get "preferential treatment" if the US imposes tariffs on pharma imports—something that could happen very soon as part of a Section 232 investigation, which is the first step before tariffs are dropped.

But here’s the problem: the UK exports £8.8 billion worth of medicinal and pharmaceutical products to the US every year—all currently tariff-free. If Trump goes ahead with new taxes, what does "preferential" even mean? Less painful? Slightly less painful?

Politically, this deal is a big win for Starmer, especially as the UK becomes the first country to strike a deal in Trump’s new trade war era. The PM called it a victory for British jobs in cars and steel. But, for pharma, the question remains to be answered.

This follows the UK’s trade deal with India, which the pharma industry called a missed opportunity—it didn’t fix issues like weak intellectual property protections for UK drugmakers.

Bottom Line

The UK-US deal is a start, but for pharma—one of Britain’s most valuable industries—it’s still a waiting game. Will the next round bring better news? Or just more tariffs?