‘Not up for negotiation’: Australia’s blunt warning for Donald Trump

The government has come out swinging, saying there is “no way” Aussies would accept Donald Trump meddling with a huge costsaving measure.

Australia has bluntly warned US President Donald Trump that the Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme is “not up for negotiation” in his trade war.

Health Minister Mark Butler has blasted suggestions that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme could be under threat under new reciprocal tariffs.

As the Albanese Government moves to pledge $25 PBS scripts if re-elected there are fears American medical giants want to tear it down.

Urging US President Donald Trump to impose punitive tariffs, US pharmaceutical giants have complained it subsidies the cost of medicines for millions of patients and blocks importers.

“Egregious and discriminatory pricing policies in several markets including Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Korea undervalue American innovation, threaten billions of dollars in lost sales and undermine American competitiveness, jobs and exports,” says the formal submission from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA.

But Health Minister Mark Butler said there was “no way” Australia would accept Donald Trump meddling with the PBS.

“This is not a new position from Big Pharma in the US,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise.

Health Minister Mark Butler said there was “no way” Australia would accept Donald Trump meddling with the PBS. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

“They want to sell their medicines at top dollar. We want to make them cheaper. There is an inherent conflict.

“They did this when John Howard was negotiating the free-trade agreement.

“We, as the Labor Party, agreed on stronger protections going into our parliament to ensure the PBS was not up for negotiation.

“I can assure your viewers, under a Labor government there is no way the PBS will be up for negotiation with any overseas government.”

Mr Butler was out spruiking the governments pre-election PBS pledge on Thursday.

“The beauty of this is that cheaper medicines aren’t just good for the hip pocket and household budget, although of course they obviously are, they’re also good for health,” he said.

“Because too many Australians have been telling us they haven’t been filling the scripts that their doctors have said are important for their health because of cost.”

Urging US President Donald Trump to impose punitive tariffs, US pharmaceutical giants have complained it subsidies the cost of medicines for millions of patients and blocks importers. Picture: Pool/AP

Mr Butler defended the decision to hold off on the price cuts until January next year.

“We’ve got measures that are coming into effect this year, as I said, this will be the fifth instalment,” he said.

“Without our measures, the maximum cost of a script next year would have skyrocketed to $50.

“More than twice what it will end up being if we’re elected, which is $25.

“We’ve got pensioners getting tens of millions of additional free scripts, general patients, their maximum costs will be half what it otherwise would have been.

“Finally we’re able to get a 60 days supply of many common medicines for just the price of a single script. “This has all been really important at a time of cost- of-living pressure. I know as the health minister, it is also good health policy.”

Speaking on 3AW, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was asked what the impact would be if the United States imposed punitive tariffs on Australia because we subsidise medicines for millions of patients.

“Well, let me be really clear, the PBS is fundamental to our health system and that’s not going to change,’’ Mr Marles said.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the PBS is fundamental to our health system. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

“There’s not going to be any changes to the PBS. And the PBS has been a long standing feature of Australia’s health system across governments of both persuasions and was there when the original US‑Australia Free Trade Agreement was negotiated during the Howard government.

“The PBS enables Australians to access medicines which would otherwise be really costly at a rate which is affordable and is fundamental to the world class health system that we’ve got.

“So, there’s not going to be any changes to the PBS. I mean, we’ll keep making our advocacy to the US more broadly in relation to the tariff issue and to our trading relationship with the United States, but the PBS is certainly not on the table.”

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said the Coalition stands by the PBS unequivocally.

“A trade war is no good for Australia, it’s no good for Australians, it’s no good for your hip pocket.

“We want to de-escalate this as quickly as possible, use the good relationships that we have across the aisle and on Capitol Hill. That’s fundamentally important and something that unfortunately has failed to occur under this government.”

Originally published as ‘Not up for negotiation’: Australia’s blunt warning for Donald Trump