President Donald Trump at the White House on May 9, 2025. Photo REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
Donald Trump announced that he would sign an order on Monday that he claims will reduce prescription drug prices in the United States by 30% to 80%.
"They will increase worldwide to compensate and, for the first time in many years, bring fairness to America!" the U.S. president wrote in a message posted Sunday evening on his Truth Social network. He is expected to sign the order implementing this new policy on Monday morning at 9 a.m. (1 p.m. GMT). It will ensure that "the United States pay the same price as the nation that pays the lowest price in the world," the Republican billionaire specified, assuring that this reduction would apply "almost immediately."
When questioned by AFP, the White House did not provide further details on how this measure will function.
The White House occupant has long urged the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices, which are among the highest in the world and significantly more expensive than in neighboring countries (Canada and Mexico) and in Europe. According to a study by the Rand Corporation, the United States pays on average 2.5 times more for prescription drugs than France, for instance. Donald Trump had committed to reducing this gap during his presidential campaign.
In mid-April, he had already signed a first order directing his administration to work on a series of measures to lower drug prices. Among the actions listed: improving the negotiation process between public health insurance and pharmaceutical groups and allowing states to directly import drugs from foreign countries at lower costs. The negotiations conducted by public health insurance for people over 65, "Medicare," regarding the prices of certain drugs are lengthy processes, and the reduced prices negotiated by former President Joe Biden — who also led an initiative in this area — will not take effect until 2026.
During his first term (2017-2021), Trump had taken measures aimed at reducing prices, with the already stated goal of aligning them with the lowest applied worldwide. But this plan had produced little effect in the face of opposition from the pharmaceutical industry.
The discontent of households about the inflation of the years 2022-23 was analyzed as one of the reasons for Trump's reelection. However, his trade war policy, which involved increasing tariffs on American imports in recent months, raises concerns about a new price increase.