US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he forced France to agree to triple its drug prices by threatening to impose a 25% tariff on all French imports to the US.
Trump described his negotiations with French President Emmanuel Macron over drug pricing disparities between the two countries while addressing Republican members of Congress at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Trump said he told Macron that France must raise prices because Americans are paying "14 times" more than French consumers for prescription drugs.
When Macron initially refused, Trump said he issued an ultimatum telling French president to either agree to US demands or face a sweeping 25% tariff on French products, including wines and champagnes.
Trump said he insisted he could and would impose tariffs "even for national security," noting the tariff he threatened was "42 times more expensive" than what he was requesting.
He claimed France then agreed to increase drug prices from $10 per pill to $30, while US prices drop.
Neither Macron nor French government immediately response after Trump's remarks.
In discussions with other countries, he claimed that on average within "3.2 minutes" of threatening tariffs, foreign leaders agreed to quadruple their drug prices, saying: "We would be honored to quadruple our drug prices, if that's what you like."
The comments came as Trump advances his Most Favored Nation policy, which aims to lower US prescription drug prices by tying Medicare payments to the lowest prices drug manufacturers charge in other developed nations. Trump argues Americans are subsidizing lower foreign prices, calling it "global freeloading."
