Trump Says Novartis Building 11 US Plants Following Tariff Policies
President Trump announced that Novartis CEO met with him at the White House and said the Swiss drugmaker is building 11 U.S. plants following tariff policies. Novartis previously committed $23 billion to expand U.S. facilities.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he met Vas Narasimhan, the chief executive officer of Swiss drugmaker Novartis, at the White House on Wednesday. Trump, addressing workers at a steel plant in Rome, Georgia on Thursday, said Narasimhan told him during the meeting that his company was building 11 U.S. plants as a result of the president's tariff policies.
"We appreciate the opportunity to update the U.S. government on our progress, including recent groundbreakings for manufacturing and research facilities in North Carolina and California and plans to expand our radioligand therapy manufacturing network with a new site in Florida," a spokesperson for Novartis said in an emailed statement. The statement did not add any details on the number of facilities planned in the U.S.
Last year, the Swiss drugmaker said it planned to spend $23 billion to build and expand 10 facilities in the U.S. after the Trump administration threatened to impose drug import duties.
Novartis and the White House reached a deal shortly before Christmas aimed at lowering U.S. drug prices, with the Swiss drugmaker agreeing to launch new medicines at prices comparable to those in other wealthy countries and to sell some treatments directly to patients through a government-backed platform. The company also plans to seek broader Medicaid discounts while continuing to invest in U.S. manufacturing and research.