BRICS nations offer ‘counterbalance’ to US tariffs as global pharma manufacturing players
With Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) nations exploring barrier-free regulations for biosimilars and biologics, these countries could provide a “counterbalance” to the challenges posed by U.S. tariffs “fostering healthy competition and reducing production costs,” according to analytics firm GlobalData.
While the intergovernmental organization is a loose coalition of non-Western economies, GlobalData contends that BRICS member nations have emerged as key players in global pharmaceutical manufacturing bolstering access to affordable medicines, as President Donald Trump has doubled down on his threat to target the pharma industry with tariffs meant to bring drug manufacturing back to the U.S.
“By advancing regulatory harmonization for biosimilars and biologics, BRICS nations are positioning themselves to offset the pressures created by U.S. trade policies,” Leyla Hasanzadeh, GlobalData’s senior research analyst for health economics and market access, said in a statement.
According to Hasanzadeh, it’s a geopolitical shift that “could accelerate the emergence of these markets as key players in global pharmaceutical manufacturing — delivering affordable, high-quality medicines while fostering greater supply chain resilience and competitive balance across the industry.”
GlobalData’s March 2025 Emerging Market Outsourcing report, a quarterly analysis of news and trends impacting contract manufacturing organizations in emerging pharma markets, makes the case that the Trump administration’s push for domestic production could lead to increased production costs and inflationary pressures on drug prices.
On April 2, Trump is expected to announce his plans for reciprocal tariffs, potentially impacting dozens of countries including India, a major manufacturing player in the generic drugs market.
The Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) has warned that U.S. tariffs on generic drugs would increase the risk of drug and active pharmaceutical ingredient shortages. It’s a concern shared by Marta Wosińska, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who last week argued in a research article that any production disruptions in the “already fragile generic injectable markets” are likely to result in shortages.
“With many Americans already facing rising consumer prices and unemployment, the potential for further price hikes raises significant concerns about healthcare accessibility,” according to GlobalData.