Pharmaceutical drugs and products are the main items imported by Brazil in the United States this year. At first, these products will not be affected by the Donald Trump’s tariff over Brazilian productsbut a possible retaliation of Brazil may cost products such as cancer medications and rare diseases.
Last year, Brazil imported nearly $ 10 billion in medical items, such as products used in surgeries, reagents for detecting diseases, instruments and medical appliances. Much comes from the United States.
The possibility of Brazilian retaliation for US tariff worries the sector. According to the CEO of the Brazilian Association of Medical Device Industry, Paulo Fraccaro, some alternatives for Brazil would be China, India and Turkey.
“If we adopt reciprocity, these products will arrive more expensive on the shelves, in the order of 30%, and Brazil will have to look for alternatives,” he says.
Brazil also imports medicines with patents, especially for rare diseases or those with more technology, and the United States are among the main suppliers And in the case of a tariff war, these drugs could get even more expensive in Brazil.
In the first half of this year, US $ 4.3 billion were imported in high -cost medicines and pharmaceutical products, up 10% over the same period last year. The European Union is the largest supplier, with about 60% .Alema and United States account for about 15% each.
Most of the most common drugs, especially generic, are produced in Brazil, but in this case, 95% of pharmaceutical inputs for production come from China.
For the executive president of the Brazilian Association of Pharmaceutical Inputs (Abiquifi), Norberto Prestes, it is essential to invest in Brazilian research and production.
“We have the ability, we have brilliant researchers, who end up going abroad. We should retain these talents here and develop our system to increase our sovereignty in this regard,” he says.
