US Secretary Rubio Says India Did Not Raise Generic Drug Tariff Issue in Bilateral Meet
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday stated that India did not raise concerns about President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on generic drugs during his meeting with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Manila. The remarks came during a press interaction following their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of ASEAN summits.
Rubio was asked whether Jaishankar had brought up the issue of the Trump administration's plan to impose tariffs on generic pharmaceutical imports. He replied, “We didn’t get into depth on pharmaceuticals today, but I would expect them to be concerned about it, but they didn’t raise it today.” He added that India “might have raised concerns with others in our system because we are obviously very close to them.”
The meeting focused on priority areas of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, including trade, tariffs, energy, defence, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence. Jaishankar later posted on social media that they also exchanged perspectives on regional and global issues.
The development comes a day after President Trump announced a phased tariff plan for generic drug imports. Under the plan, generic drugs will enter the US duty-free until August 2028, after which tariffs will rise to 100% for one year and then to 200% thereafter. Trump stated the move aims to “reshore generic pharmaceutical production into America.”
Jaishankar and Rubio also discussed the West Asia crisis and its impact on global fuel supplies and market stability. Both leaders are in the Philippines for ASEAN and Quad meetings.
