Trump to Strengthen Health Security...Ordering Strategic Reserve for 6 Months of Essential Medicines Materials
Aug 14, 2025
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According to the White House on the 13th (local time), President Trump signed an executive order to compile a list of 26 drugs that are critical to the country's health and security interests and to stockpile six months of raw materials (API) needed to make such drugs. The API that stockpiles should be sourced from manufacturers in the United States where possible.
In 2020, during his first term in office, President Trump, who had difficulty securing drugs due to the spread of COVID-19, first ordered the establishment of a 'SAPIR' (Source Drug Strategy Stockpile). Since then, the administration has compiled a list of 86 essential medicines for 2022, which Trump ordered in this executive order to update that list and consider building a second stockpile.
The White House explained that only 10% of the raw materials needed to make prescription drugs in the United States are produced in the United States, making them vulnerable to disruptions in overseas supply chains, and sometimes relying on hostile countries to import raw materials, risking shortages of essential drugs. It also said that it makes more sense to stockpile raw materials that are cheaper and have a longer storage period than finished drugs.
In this regard, the U.S. is paying attention to the fact that the policy was implemented with a notice of high drug tariffs.
President Trump is pushing pharmaceutical companies to increase production in the U.S. by raising tariffs significantly. However, there are many concerns that such tariff hikes will lead to a rise in the burden of consumer drug prices as well as the withdrawal of pharmaceutical companies from the market. Therefore, analysts say that the stockpile of raw materials is a strategic response to strengthen the stability of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and stabilize the supply chain.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
