A senior executive at German pharmaceutical company Bayer told reporters Tuesday that recently announced federal tariffs on imported medications won’t force the company to revise its business projections for 2026.
Sebastian Guth, who serves as Chief Operating Officer for Bayer Pharmaceuticals and heads the company’s U.S. operations, explained that the drugmaker had already factored potential tariffs into its planning. “We feel that we’ve appropriately anticipated tariffs as we think about our 2026 guidance,” Guth stated during an interview.
The executive expressed confidence in the company’s position, noting that existing trade agreements between the United States and European Union provide some protection. Under last year’s deal, tariff rates on most European goods, including pharmaceutical products, cannot exceed 15 percent.
Earlier this year in March, Bayer released financial projections showing expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of between 9.6 billion and 10.1 billion euros for 2026. This represents growth from the company’s 2025 EBITDA figure of 9.669 billion euros.
The tariff policy stems from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week, targeting brand-name prescription drugs brought into the United States from overseas. Companies can avoid these fees by agreeing to government pricing negotiations or promising to manufacture their products domestically.
Implementation of these tariffs is set to begin in September for most pharmaceutical companies.
While sixteen major global drugmakers have already negotiated agreements with federal officials to exempt billions of dollars in medications from the new tariffs, Bayer was not included in those initial discussions. Guth would not discuss whether his company has since engaged with the Trump administration about potential exemptions.
The executive also highlighted a separate trade agreement between Britain and the United States as a potential model for other nations. Under that arrangement, British pharmaceutical companies receive tariff-free access to American markets in exchange for higher domestic drug prices.
The British deal requires increasing medicine expenditures from 0.3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product to 0.35 percent by 2028, eventually reaching 0.6 percent by 2035. Guth suggested this framework could guide how other wealthy nations approach pharmaceutical pricing reforms.
“There’s an acknowledgment that it isn’t going to happen overnight, but will happen over time,” Guth said regarding these gradual pricing adjustments.
