President Donald Trump first threatened pharma tariffs in February and recently said they were imminent. Johnson & Johnson’s new investment adds to a $55 billion pledge made by the company in March.
Johnson & Johnson is investing $2 billion more into its U.S. manufacturing footprint—on top of a $55 billion commitment in March—as President Donald Trump continues to threaten the biopharma industry with hefty tariffs on imported products.
In a news release on Thursday, the pharma announced that it has entered into a 10-year agreement with Fujifilm for a 160,000-square-foot production plant in North Carolina, where J&J’s previous investment focused and where much of other pharmas’ U.S. manufacturing boosts have landed. The new investment will create around 120 new jobs in the region, according to J&J, adding to the 500 positions associated with the March move. On Thursday, the pharma provided an update for this investment, revealing that construction is ongoing for its facility in Wilson, North Carolina.
Despite already having more manufacturing sites in the U.S. than in any other country, J&J continues “to strengthen our presence here,” CEO Joaquin Duato said in a prepared statement on Thursday.
This latest investment package comes amid Trump’s looming pharma tariffs, which he has been threatening the industry with for around six months now. Most recently, Trump earlier this month told CNBC that levies on pharma imports could reach as high as 250%, though he plans to implement this in phases. The industry, for instance, would first be subject to a “small tariff” before ramping up to 150%, then 250%.
A few days earlier, Trump reached a trade deal with the European Union, under which pharma products will carry a 15% tariff.
In parallel, the Trump administration also has an ongoing Section 232 national security investigation into pharma imports. Launched in April under Secretary Howard Lutnick’s Department of Commerce, the probe is set to run for 270 days, according to the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, after which a report should be filed to the president, who then can impose certain trade restrictions, including tariffs.
According to an Aug. 14 report from Reuters, Lutnick had said the probe would end last month, before pushing back his own timeline by two weeks on July 29. But in that same article, Reuters cited industry, White House and European government sources, who said that tariffs are likely still weeks away. The government official from Europe even noted that tariffs could be delayed until next month, while also warning that timelines could change again.
Since Trump’s initial threat in February, several big pharma companies have pumped billions into their domestic operations. In addition to Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Roche have also made U.S.-based investments. Meanwhile, the FDA has launched a new PreCheck program to help pharma companies establish or expand manufacturing sites in the U.S.
