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# Tariffs Could Hurt Drug Supply: HuffPost
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/tariffs-could-hurt-drug-supply-huffpost/
- Published: 2025-05-22T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T15:12:29.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5159229

A HuffPost analysis says that if President **Donald J. Trump** follows through with planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals, “these largely foreign-made drugs would be targeted with tariffs, potentially causing unexpected shortages and making your doctor’s visit look much different in the future.” The online [post](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pharmaceutical-drug-tariff-disappearance%5Fl%5F682ccc5de4b0bf653cd67449?ref=fdaweb.com) quotes University of Utah Health drug shortage expert **Erin Fox** as saying that a major tariff could cause companies to discontinue production of low-cost, low-margin drugs. She said patients could end up receiving alternative medicines because hospitals would face shortages of certain pharmaceuticals.

Fox said that because the drug supply chain is not transparent, it is not exactly clear which drugs would be affected by tariffs the most. HuffPost suggests the types of drugs most at risk of disappearing for people in need would be a variety of cheap pain medications, generic cheap drugs like morphine, and cancer drugs.

Fox questions whether a planned 25% tariff would be effective in meeting Trump’s goal of bringing drug production back to the U.S. because it would take at least three years to build a drug manufacturing facility here due to complicated FDA regulations and inspections.

“We don’t want to see products discontinued that we need, and it could be a reality,” Fox said. “This winter, when you have a cold, that medicine that you’re looking for, it may not be on the shelf.”