By Sam Tabahriti, Maggie Fick and Bhanvi Satija
LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) – Britain has finalised a U.S.-UK pharmaceutical trade deal, setting out tariff-free access for UK-made medicines to the United States in return for paying higher prices for new U.S. medicines.
The agreement, reached as part of a wider U.S.-UK trade accord signed last year, commits Washington to a zero tariff on British pharmaceutical exports for at least three years. The British government has said the deal would make Britain the only country with tariff-free access for medicines to the U.S. market.
British Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said on Thursday the partnership would support Britain’s world‑leading pharmaceutical sector while protecting high‑skilled jobs, adding that it demonstrated the strength of the U.S.-British economic relationship.
Pharmaceuticals account for about a fifth of British goods exports to the United States by value, according to government data.
The White House and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
PRICING CHANGES
The deal is expected to mean changes to the “appraisal framework” at NICE, the UK body that assesses the cost-effectiveness of National Health Service medicines, but Thursday’s announcement gave no details.
In December, when the outline terms of the partnership were announced, officials said that the changes would result in an effective increase of around 25% in the net prices paid for some new U.S. medicines.
Britain has also said the deal shielded medical technology exports from additional tariffs and included assurances it would receive mitigations under a proposed U.S. “most favoured nation” drug pricing policy, which seeks to bring U.S. medicine prices closer to those in other developed countries.
The pharmaceuticals provisions were negotiated separately from the wider U.S.-British trade deal signed by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer in June 2025, with the two sides unveiling the outline terms in December.
In a separate statement on Thursday, Britain said the deal would see closer cooperation between its Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including work towards aligning medical device regulation to help speed patient access to new technologies.
ZERO‑TARIFF TERMS TIED TO US PRICING AND TARIFF POLICY
Britain and the U.S. said in December the agreement would secure zero tariffs on British pharmaceutical products and medical technology in return for higher UK spending on medicines and changes to how new drugs are valued.
In return for Britain raising the net price it pays for new U.S. medicines, UK-made medicines, drug ingredients and medical technology would be exempt from U.S. Section 232 sectoral tariffs and any future Section 301 country-specific tariffs.
Britain-headquartered drugmakers AstraZeneca and GSK separately struck most-favoured-nation pricing deals with the Trump administration last year that included three-year protection from potential U.S. pharmaceutical tariffs, underscoring Washington’s broader use of tariff threats in negotiations with the sector.
Following the announcement of the deal, a GSK spokesperson said the company was pleased it had been finalised, adding that it provided certainty on zero tariffs for medicines and improved the British operating environment while rewarding innovation.
The spokesperson said work now needed to happen “at pace” on the detailed action to deliver the improvements.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, Maggie Fick andBhanvi Satija in London; Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington. Editing by Alex Richardson and Jane Merriman)
Comments