Europe must act as one over US medicine measures: Belgian foreign minister

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot has urged Europe to respond collectively to the latest US announcements concerning imported generic medicines.

“Europe needs to respond to this challenge as one, defending both innovation and an open, secure supply, in everyone’s interest,” Prevot said on US social media company X.

He warned that pharmaceutical production chains are global and deeply interconnected, and that raising trade barriers could increase costs and jeopardize the security of medicine supplies for patients in Europe and elsewhere.

Trump announced that a 100% tariff would be applied to generic drug imports starting in August 2028.

This decision is considered to have significant consequences for Belgium’s pharmaceutical sector, which accounts for more than half of the country’s exports to the US.