🔗 Share this article US and UK Reach No-Tariff Pact on Medicines. Stock image of medicine trade. The UK and US have signed a landmark bilateral deal that will guarantee no import taxes on British pharmaceutical exports going into the American market. Agreement Details of the Pact In exchange for the tariff guarantee, the UK has committed to raise expenditure on drugs through the NHS. This commitment secures that tariffs on these vital products will be held at zero for a period of 36 months. This deal comes after previous statements to hike import taxes on branded drug products, with potential rates floated up to double the cost. "This agreement with the Britain reinforces the global environment for innovative medicines and introduces long-overdue fairness to U.S.–U.K. drug exports," a release said. Economic Importance Pharmaceuticals represent one of the Britain's most significant goods shipped to the America, which is clearly the biggest buyer for large companies like GSK and AstraZeneca. Statistics indicate that in the year prior to last September, the UK exported medicines totaling over eleven billion pounds to the US. This figure represented 17.4% of all goods exports in that period. "This agreement secures jobs, stimulates capital expenditure and sets the stage for the UK to emerge as a worldwide center for biotech and pharma," a minister commented. Detailed UK Commitments The agreement entails several notable changes from the British government: Revised Affordability Limit: The UK will lift the affordability limit at which it considers new therapies to be unaffordable by a quarter. Boosted Medicine Funding: There is a aim to double overall public funding on drugs from 0.3% of GDP to 0.6 percent over the following ten-year period. Payback Limit: The amount drug companies must pay back to the NHS to control costs will be limited at fifteen percent. Last year, refunds were more than 20%. Recent Tensions The pact comes amid a ongoing tension between the drug companies and the British authorities over medicine costs and regulatory access. These tensions were intensified by claims that US consumers were paying several times more for the identical medicines than people in the Britain and the EU. In recent months, several large manufacturing plans in the UK have been delayed or cancelled, while multi-billion-dollar funding commitments have been pledged toward US facilities. The Science Minister publicly accepted that the NHS must invest a greater share on drugs, noting that its budget allocation on drugs had shrunk as a proportion of its resources over the last ten years.
Stock image of medicine trade. The UK and US have signed a landmark bilateral deal that will guarantee no import taxes on British pharmaceutical exports going into the American market. Agreement Details of the Pact In exchange for the tariff guarantee, the UK has committed to raise expenditure on drugs through the NHS. This commitment secures that tariffs on these vital products will be held at zero for a period of 36 months. This deal comes after previous statements to hike import taxes on branded drug products, with potential rates floated up to double the cost. "This agreement with the Britain reinforces the global environment for innovative medicines and introduces long-overdue fairness to U.S.–U.K. drug exports," a release said. Economic Importance Pharmaceuticals represent one of the Britain's most significant goods shipped to the America, which is clearly the biggest buyer for large companies like GSK and AstraZeneca. Statistics indicate that in the year prior to last September, the UK exported medicines totaling over eleven billion pounds to the US. This figure represented 17.4% of all goods exports in that period. "This agreement secures jobs, stimulates capital expenditure and sets the stage for the UK to emerge as a worldwide center for biotech and pharma," a minister commented. Detailed UK Commitments The agreement entails several notable changes from the British government: Revised Affordability Limit: The UK will lift the affordability limit at which it considers new therapies to be unaffordable by a quarter. Boosted Medicine Funding: There is a aim to double overall public funding on drugs from 0.3% of GDP to 0.6 percent over the following ten-year period. Payback Limit: The amount drug companies must pay back to the NHS to control costs will be limited at fifteen percent. Last year, refunds were more than 20%. Recent Tensions The pact comes amid a ongoing tension between the drug companies and the British authorities over medicine costs and regulatory access. These tensions were intensified by claims that US consumers were paying several times more for the identical medicines than people in the Britain and the EU. In recent months, several large manufacturing plans in the UK have been delayed or cancelled, while multi-billion-dollar funding commitments have been pledged toward US facilities. The Science Minister publicly accepted that the NHS must invest a greater share on drugs, noting that its budget allocation on drugs had shrunk as a proportion of its resources over the last ten years.