Trump Signs Order to Slash US Drug Prices Citing Australia’s Lower Costs
- admin928749
- May 13
- 2 min read
In a bold move, the former US president signed a sweeping executive order aimed at cutting prescription drug costs in America. His plan? Force drug companies to either voluntarily slash prices within 30 days or face stricter price controls tied to what other countries are paying.
“We’re going to equalise,” Trump said at a press conference. “We’re all going to pay the same — what Europe pays.”
That means countries like Australia, the UK, and Sweden — where medications are often much cheaper — could end up paying more so that Americans can pay less.
Trump was clearly fired up as he rattled off comparisons:
“One breast cancer drug costs Americans over $16,000 a bottle. The exact same drug — same factory, same company — is one-sixth the price in Australia and one-tenth the price in Sweden.”
He also pointed to an asthma medication that costs nearly $500 in the US but less than $40 in the UK.
At the centre of this new push is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now heading the US Health Department, who’s been tasked with trying to negotiate cheaper prices. If he can’t get drugmakers on board within a month, he’s expected to roll out a “most favoured nation” pricing rule — meaning the US will only pay what the cheapest country is paying.
Trump didn’t shy away from calling out Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) either, which helps keep medication prices low for Aussies.
“Europe and the rest of the world are going to have to pay a little bit more, and America is going to pay a lot less,” he said.
Exactly how this will affect Australia is still unclear. The PBS is protected in trade deals — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said it’s “off the table” in any negotiations with a Trump administration.
And while Trump has threatened tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals before (a $1.6 billion export industry), this latest move isn’t a tariff — but it does signal more pressure coming from Washington.
As for the millions of Americans with private health insurance, the executive order might not have a direct impact yet. The biggest changes would likely apply to Medicare and Medicaid, the federal programs covering seniors and low-income Americans.
Still, Trump’s message was loud and clear: He wants other countries to chip in more — even if that means higher prices overseas — so the US can stop footing the global bill for drug research.
Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.
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