Where the U.S. Actually Gets Its Drug Supply: QuickTake Q&A

After calling out makers of cars and air conditioners, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has set his sights on a new industry to pressure for manufacturing jobs: drug companies. In his first press conference since his election, Trump lumped pharmaceutical firms in with the car companies that so far have borne the brunt of his Twitter feed for moving operations abroad. “We’ve got to get our drug industry back,” he said. “They supply our drugs but they don’t make them here, to a large extent.” Afterward, pharmaceutical stocks around the world plunged, partly on Trump’s promise to cut drug prices but also on concerns that companies could face the same choice he’s proposed for carmakers: make it in the U.S. or face punitive tariffs.

For the most part, no. About 75 percent of U.S. spending on drugs is for products that are manufactured domestically. The expiration dates on medicines mean it pays to be nearer to the end consumer. Being close to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in a tightly regulated industry doesn’t hurt either. Nevertheless, because of the sheer size of the American market -- the biggest in the world by far -- the $86 billion of medicine brought in from the rest of the world in 2015 still makes the U.S. the biggest drug importer on the planet. The value of those imports has almost doubled since 2005.