Published on: 2026-04-03
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News in Russian
Canberra, April 3 /Xin Hua/ — The Australian federal government will not make changes to its drug subsidy scheme amid tariff pressure from the US administration. This was reported on Friday by the country’s health minister Mark Butler.
In an interview with the Seven Network TV channel, M. Butler stated that Australia will not negotiate with the USA on the “basics” of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), in accordance with which the federal government subsidizes the cost of prescription medicines.
“We continue to send this maximally clear signal to the USA, because we know: large pharmaceutical companies constantly pressure us, trying to destroy the PBS system here, in Australia, and similar programs in other countries of the world. We will not negotiate on these fundamental issues,” he stated.
The Australian minister made this statement after US President Donald Trump signed an order on Thursday imposing a 100 percent tariff on the import of certain patented pharmaceutical products.
In the updated list of trade complaints with Australia, published at the end of March, the US administration stated that PBS undervalues American innovations due to unfair pricing practices on medicines.
According to this scheme, pharmaceutical manufacturers must negotiate sales directly with the Australian government, rather than with individual buyers, in order to prevent a price war.
According to data, in 2025 the volume of Australian pharmaceutical exports to the USA will amount to 1.3 billion USD.
The press secretary of the Minister of Trade Don Farrell told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation /ABC/ on Friday that the government is disappointed with the US tariffs on pharmaceutical products and will continue to insist on the cancellation of “unjustified” tariffs.
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