(Market Insider) – Asian pharmaceutical shares dropped Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new tariffs, including a 100% levy on branded and patented drugs manufactured outside the United States.
Starting Oct. 1, “any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product” will face the duties unless the company builds manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Trump announced in a Truth Social post.
The news sent the Topix Pharma Index down 1.39%, with Daiichi Sankyo and Chugai Pharmaceutical sliding 3.34% and 2.18%, respectively. Sumitomo Pharma tumbled 3.03%. In South Korea, heavyweight stocks Samsung Biologicsand SK Biopharmaceuticals fell 1.66% and 2.66%.
Hong Kong–listed biotech firms were among the hardest hit, with Wuxi Biologics dropping 2.95%, while Alibaba Health Information Technology lost 1.84% and Sino Biopharmaceutical slipped 1.25%.
The tariffs form part of a broader set of trade measures: Trump also imposed a 25% duty on imported heavy trucks, a 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, and a 30% levy on upholstered furniture.
Meanwhile, in a separate move, Trump signed an executive order approving a $14 billion deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. Under the agreement, pending Chinese approval, a new joint venture will oversee TikTok’s U.S. operations, with ByteDance retaining less than a 20% stake, according to Vice President JD Vance.
Market reaction in Asia was mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat, though the Topix gained 0.59% to notch a fresh record high. Investors also weighed Tokyo’s September inflation data, which showed core CPI at 2.5%, below forecasts of 2.8%.
South Korea’s Kospi led regional losses with a 2.02% drop, while the Kosdaq retreated 1.57%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 hovered just below the flatline. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.86%, while China’s CSI 300 index was little changed.
On Wall Street, tech stocks extended their three-day slump as Treasury yields climbed. The 10-year yield touched 4.2% after U.S. jobless claims came in lower than expected. Oracle slid 5%, while Tesla dropped 4%.
The S&P 500 closed 0.50% lower at 6,604.72, the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.50% to 22,384.70, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.38% to finish at 45,947.32.
