Trump tariff pressure: AstraZeneca to move production to US, announces $50 billion manufacturing push

British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on Tuesday announced plans to invest $50 billion in the United States, including the construction of a multi-billion-dollar manufacturing facility in Virginia—its largest-ever single manufacturing investment—amid rising pressure from the Trump administration's tariff push.The company said it expects 50% of its total revenue to come from the US by 2030, underlining its strategic shift toward the American market, AFP reported. “Today’s announcement underpins our belief in America’s innovation in biopharmaceuticals,” AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said in a statement.The announcement comes as US President Donald Trump ramps up threats of new tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, which had long been exempt from his broader import levies.

A White House-ordered investigation is currently underway, with duties potentially reaching as high as 200%, according to administration signals.“For decades Americans have been reliant on foreign supply of key pharmaceutical products,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, AFP quoted. He added that the new tariff measures are aimed at “ending this structural weakness” in domestic drug supply chains.

The Virginia factory forms the centrepiece of AstraZeneca’s expanded US operations and reflects broader trends in the industry. Other major pharmaceutical firms, many of which had avoided tariffs for the past 30 years, have also begun shifting investment and production to the US in recent months.AstraZeneca had already announced in April that it was relocating part of its European production to the US, even before the latest tariff measures gained momentum.