LIVERPOOL, England — The U.K.’s Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said pharmaceutical companies are proving “hard negotiators” amid crunch talks tied to President Donald Trump’s deadline to impose 100 percent tariffs on U.S. pharmaceutical imports.
Asked about the impact of Trump’s threats and a spate of recent warnings about the U.K.’s investment climate from leading pharmaceutical companies, Kyle told the POLITICO Pub at Labour Party Conference “there is a lot of discussions and negotiations going on over pricing.”
The U.K.-U.S. Economic Prosperity Deal signed in May left the door open to “preferential treatment” for the U.K. on U.S. pharmaceutical tariffs, but only if the U.K. improves conditions for American drug makers.
The prime minister’s business adviser, Varun Chandra, flew to Washington this week to discuss tariffs.
In parallel, the U.K. government is locked in talks with companies over NHS drug pricing, with Science Minister Patrick Vallance recently hinting the NHS will need to pay more if Britain wants to stay attractive for investment.
However, Kyle indicated he thinks the sector’s concerns have been overstated, saying: “The pharma companies are very good negotiators. They are hard negotiators, and they know how to use the media and the press to do it.”
“But we are tough negotiators too, and we are in the process of negotiating lots of different arrangements and agreements and investments into pharma.”
Kyle insisted the U.K. continues to “have one of the best life sciences communities in the world,” pointing to a recent £1 billion investment by German medicines giant BioNTech. The government is continuing to look for ways to make it easier to roll out innovative medicines across the U.K.’s health system, he said.
Steel talks continue
Elsewhere, Kyle said London is “not giving up on on moving forward in a whole range of areas,” related to the U.K.’s trade pact with the U.S.
Outstanding 25 percent U.S. steel tariffs on British steel exports are “part of that conversation,” he confirmed, but refused to put a deadline on discussions.
Kyle stressed that the U.K. had already secured lower tariffs than most other countries, which face 50 percent tariffs on steel exports to the U.S. — a move he said had been “celebrated” by the sector.
He also said the U.K. needed to consider its strategy to steel more broadly amid global upheaval.
“When you look at what the U.S., the EU, India, China and other territories are doing, all of them have a very distinct approach to steel, and we as Britain need to find our way within that.”
“Because America is not just thinking, ‘what should our global steel policy be’ only in relation to the U.K. They are thinking about a global relationship with steel, and the U.K. is one part of it.”
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