How Trump’s Plan To Import Canadian Drugs Would Work

Americans spend an average of about $1,200 per person, per year on prescription drugs, more than anywhere else in the world. Lowering those costs is one of the few topics uniting U.S. leaders from both the Democratic and Republican parties. The Trump administration’s latest proposal is to import cheaper drugs from Canada.

Unlike many other nations, the U.S. government doesn’t directly regulate the price of medicine. Drug companies in the U.S have the power to set the price they choose as long as the market will bear it. In Canada, a federal body sets a price ceiling for patented drugs based on a comparison of prices in seven industrialized countries. Prices for generic drugs aren’t capped and are often higher than in the U.S.