(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Monday to streamline regulations surrounding pharmaceutical manufacturing in the United States, the Washington Post reported, citing two White House officials.
The order directs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reduce the time it takes to approve drug manufacturing plants in the country, as well as to increase fees for inspections at foreign sites, according to the newspaper.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Pharmaceutical products have long been spared from trade wars due to potential harms, but Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs on the sector in recent months.
Last month, his administration announced probes into pharmaceutical imports, citing national security concerns over reliance on foreign drug production, paving the way for potential tariffs on the sector.
According to the Washington Post report, the order directs the FDA to improve enforcement of active-ingredient source reporting by foreign producers and “consider publicly displaying a list of facilities that do not comply”.
It also directs the Environmental Protection Agency to “accelerate the construction of facilities” related to manufacturing such drugs and their ingredients, the report said.
So far, there is little clarity on the rates and timings of any sector-specific tariffs. But the industry could be in for a big hit if Trump goes ahead with his plans, since the U.S. imports more than $200 billion in prescription drugs.
Companies including Roche, Novartis, Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson have announced sizeable investments in U.S. manufacturing in recent weeks.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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