Administration says most-favored-nation agreements will sharply lower U.S. drug prices
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Summary
At a Cabinet meeting the president announced what he called a most-favored-nation policy and said drugmakers agreed to prices that will cut many U.S. prescription costs; the Health official present said 16 of 17 companies have reached agreements and rural health funding will support access.
The president announced at a Cabinet meeting that the administration has secured what he described as a most-favored-nation (MFN) approach with major pharmaceutical companies that he said will drive U.S. drug prices down to the lowest global levels.
"We're gonna be bringing the drug prices down at numbers never seen before," Speaker 1 said, saying the policy will make U.S. prices match the lowest price available anywhere. Speaker 2, a cabinet official speaking for the administration's health team, told the meeting the government has agreements with 16 of 17 major drug companies and is preparing a program called "Trump RX" to make lower prices available broadly.
Speaker 2 said the pharmaceutical commitments included investment in U.S. production capacity; Eli Lilly, Merck, Pfizer and Novo Nordisk were named as companies planning new plants in the United States in comments at the meeting. Speaker 2 also said the administration has sent $10 billion to states for rural health care and expects to implement prior-authorization and price-transparency reforms to reduce patient costs and administrative delays.
Administration officials framed the MFN approach as a mix of negotiation and trade leverage. The president described using tariff threats to gain compliance from foreign governments and companies, saying the U.S. would impose steep tariffs if partners refused to accept higher prices for their domestic markets. He said pharmaceutical stock prices rose after companies agreed.
The meeting record does not include a legislative citation or text for an MFN statute; Speaker 2 described the outcomes as agreements and implementation steps rather than changes enacted by Congress. The administration said details of the pricing program and its rollout would be announced in the coming days.
Next steps announced at the meeting included finalizing the "Trump RX" program and issuing public guidance on how the MFN pricing will be implemented for federal purchasers and patients. Administration officials did not provide a timetable for when specific drugs would reach the new price levels at the pharmacy counter.