UK to offer to pay more for some drugs to appease Trump, FT reports

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(Reuters) -The British government will offer to pay more for medicines that it buys for the National Health Service, the Financial Times reported on Friday, hoping to defuse one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s top complaints after he announced steep tariff increases on branded medication.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief business adviser, Varun Chandra, will travel to Washington next week, the report added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The president has fumed because prescription drugs cost more in the U.S. than in any other country, often by nearly threefold. He has demanded that drug companies lower prices in the U.S. and raise them elsewhere. The price increases would potentially offset the impact of U.S. price cuts on drugmakers’ revenues.

A UK government spokesperson did not directly address the Financial Times report. But the spokesperson said in a statement that Britain was in “a constructive dialogue with the U.S. and industry.”

“We will always put patients and taxpayers first, striking the right balance between creating an environment where this innovative sector can thrive whilst ensuring best value for money,” a UK government spokesperson said in a statement.

Earlier on Friday, Britain said it was pressing the United States on pharmaceutical tariffs in hope of a beneficial outcome, after Trump said a new 100% tariff would apply to firms unless they build a manufacturing site in the country.

Major British drugmakers like AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline have already set up manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and have announced further investments.

The Trump administration has given drugmakers until September 29 to lower prices for some U.S. drugs voluntarily, with a threat of tariffs if the president is not satisfied.

(Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Gursimran Kaur; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)