Pfizer could use existing US manufacturing to counter potential tariff hit

By Christy Santhosh

(Reuters) -Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday the drugmaker might move overseas manufacturing to its existing plants in the United States, if required, as the Trump administration threatens numerous tariffs on imported goods.

Bourla's comments come as drugmakers brace for the possibility of 25% tariff on pharmaceutical imports.

A company with an existing manufacturing network in the U.S. will fare better if there is a need to transfer production to the country to avoid tariffs, Bourla said at the TD Cowen healthcare conference.

"We have the capabilities here (in the U.S.) and the manufacturing sites are operating in good capacity right now. If something happens, we will try to mitigate it by transferring from manufacturing sites outside to the manufacturing sites here."

Pfizer has 10 manufacturing sites and two distribution centers in the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to boost domestic manufacturing, has been piling pressure on drugmakers since taking office to move medicine production to the country.

In February, Trump met with CEOs from major drugmakers, including Eli Lilly's David Ricks, to discuss industry concerns such as tariffs on drug imports. Lilly said last week it plans to invest $27 billion in new U.S. plants.

Trump told Republicans in a White House meeting earlier in February that he was considering four exemptions to reciprocal tariffs, including pharmaceutical industries, according to a Reuters report, but he is yet to rule them out.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Maju Samuel and Shounak Dasgupta)