Astrazeneca launches exits in Europe – investing $50 billion in the US amid tariff threat
British drug giant AstraZeneca said Tuesday it would invest $50 billion in the US amid rising tariffs from Washington.
The majority of the funding will be directed towards the construction of a multi-billion-dollar manufacturing center in Virginia, the company said in a statement, adding that it expects 50% of its revenues will come from the US by 2030.
“Today’s announcement supports our belief in America’s innovation in biopharmaceuticals,” CEO Pascal Soliott said.
US President Donald Trump has opened the door to potential tariffs targeting drugs.
He ordered an investigation into the import of medicines, suggesting that taxation could reach up to 200%.
The US is a key market in the pharmaceutical industry, and AstraZeneca had already announced in April that it had begun relocating some of its European production to the US.
“For decades, Americans have relied on foreign supplies of key drugs,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in a statement.
He added that the new tariffs will focus on “end this structural weakness.”
The announcement included a new plant in Virginia. This marks the company’s “largest single manufacturing investment.”
Other major pharmaceutical companies, which have been exempt from tariffs for 30 years, have begun shifting investments and production into the US in recent months.