National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya discusses President Donald Trump’s actions to lower prescription drug prices and his priorities for the agency.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to encourage domestic prescription drug manufacturing and cut down on the time it takes to approve U.S. pharmaceutical plants.
Under the order, the Food and Drug Administration is directed to eliminate unnecessary requirements, streamline reviews and work with domestic drugmakers to provide early support before facilities come online.
The president also instructed the agency to increase inspection fees for foreign manufacturing plants, improve the enforcement of active-ingredient source reporting by foreign producers and consider publicly listing facilities that fail to comply.
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to encourage domestic prescription drug manufacturing. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The White House estimates that it could currently take five to 10 years to construct new manufacturing capacity for pharmaceuticals, describing that as “unacceptable” from a national security standpoint, according to a White House fact sheet.
“We don’t want to be buying our pharmaceuticals from other countries because if we’re in a war, we’re in a problem, we want to be able to make our own,” Trump said in the fact sheet. “As we invest in the future, we will permanently bring our medical supply chains back home. We will produce our medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and treatments right here in the United States.”
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The White House estimates that it could currently take five to 10 years to construct new manufacturing capacity for pharmaceuticals. (Win McNamee/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The order also directs the Environmental Protection Agency to speed up the construction of facilities made to manufacture prescription drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients and other materials.
During the signing, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency plans to start conducting surprise inspections of overseas plants, which he said would move the oversight to be more in line with the U.S.
This comes after Trump in recent months has repeatedly threatened tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, which had previously been exempt from trade wars over potential harms.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary speaks as he joins President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on May 5, 2025. (Getty Images)
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Last month, the administration began investigating imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as it sought to impose tariffs on both sectors, claiming that extensive reliance on foreign production of medicine and chips is a national security threat.
The U.S. imports more than $200 billion in prescription drugs annually.
Reuters contributed to this report.