Pfizer’s CEO said President Donald Trump’s tariffs and uncertainty are holding the company back from making “tremendous investments” in the US.
In a first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, chief executive Albert Bourla was asked what incentives he would want to see in tariff negotiations that would make him increase manufacturing investments in the US.
“If I know that there will not be tariffs and a heavy certainty, then there are tremendous investments that can happen in this country, both in R&D and manufacturing,” Bourla said.
“And in periods of uncertainty, everybody is controlling their cost as we are doing,” Bourla said. He added that Pfizer is being “very frugal” with investments so it can be “prepared for any day.”
Bourla previously said his plan to counter Trump’s tariffs is to move manufacturing to the US.
“We have 13 manufacturing sites in the US right now, up and running,” Bourla said at TD Cowen’s annual healthcare conference in March.
“So we have all the capabilities here, and the manufacturing sites are operating in good capacity right now. It’s not that they are not, but if something happens, we will try to mitigate by transferring from manufacturing sites outside, to manufacturing sites here, the things that can be transferred quickly,” Bourla added.
Pfizer’s finance chief, Dave Denton, said in the same call that the tariffs currently in place are expected to cost the company about $150 million in 2025.
Pharmaceutical products were exempted from the sweeping 10% tariffs Trump announced on April 2. However, he said earlier this month that he plans to impose pharmaceutical tariffs to get the companies to move manufacturing to the US.
“All I have to do is impose a tariff, the more, the faster they move in. The higher the tariff — it’s very simple — it’s inversely proportional; the higher the tariff, the faster they come. And yeah, we’re going to be doing that,” Trump said.
The possibility of pharmaceutical tariffs has prompted reactions from big voices in the business, some of whom have warned of higher prices.
The CEO of Pfizer’s competitor, AstraZeneca, said in an earnings call on Tuesday that the company could shift some manufacturing to the US if pharmaceutical tariffs are imposed.
Pascal Soriot said AstraZeneca could move the manufacturing of its products intended for the US market from Europe to the US.
US drugmaker Merck said Tuesday that it had started the construction of a $1 billion commercial production facility in Delaware. Merck’s CEO said in a Tuesday press release that the facility represents the company’s “continued commitment” to manufacturing in the US market.
Separately, billionaire investor Mark Cuban said in March that drugs from his company, Cost Plus Drugs, will likely get more expensive if tariffs on India are imposed.
Representatives for Pfizer did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
