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Trump’s tariff pause brings little relief as recession fears linger
Donald Trump’s move to postpone most of his new tariffs for 90 days seems to have brought only fleeting relief for markets. After a huge rally on April 10, April 11 saw Asian stocks head lower again.
- Besides, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson plans to spend $55 billion over four years on domestic manufacturing, research and technology.
- Merck announced plans to spend $1 billion on a vaccine manufacturing site in North Carolina, plus $8 billion on other upgrades.
Swiss drugmaker Novartis is planning to spend $23 billion at 10 of its U.S. facilities, including one in Millburn, as the firm — and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole — grapple with the effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports to the U.S.
Officials at Novartis, which has its U.S headquarters in East Hanover, said it would build four new manufacturing plants to produce pharmaceutical ingredients and spend $1.1 billion on a biomedical research hub in San Diego that would open by 2029.
That’s in addition to the expansion of an existing manufacturing facility in Millburn for a type of cancer treatment known as radioligand therapy, plus two new facilities to manufacture that treatment in Florida and Texas.
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The company said the multipronged expansion would ensure that “all key Novartis medicines for U.S. patients will be made in the United States,” a significant increase from its current U.S manufacturing levels.
Novartis spokesperson Michael Meo did not answer questions on the scope of the upgrades at the Millburn facility.
The Trump administration has renewed threats to levy tariffs on drug imports into the U.S in the coming months. That comes after he paused tariffs on most of the nation’s trading partners for 90 days, with the exception of a 125% tariff on Chinese imports.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that pharmaceutical products would also be hit with their own separate tariff rate, to come within months.
Domestic expansion a reaction to tariff threat?
Novartis officials did not explicitly mention the word tariffs in the April 10 announcement. Meo would not answer questions on if the upgrades were the result of Trump’s tariffs, instead referring to the April 10 announcement.
Novartis is not the only drugmaker with a large New Jersey presence that has announced domestic expansion plans.
New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson announced plans in March to spend $55 billion over the next four years on domestic manufacturing, research and technology, including a $2 billion North Carolina logistics facility
Rahway-based drugmaker Merck last month announced plans to spend $1 billion on a vaccine manufacturing site in North Carolina, plus $8 billion on other upgrades by 2028.
Novartis in the midst of hundreds of NJ layoffs
The firm is letting go of 427 employees this spring and summer who report to East Hanover, after it let go of 235 staff at the Morris County site in 2024, according to filings with the New Jersey Department of Labor.
Novartis has over 3,000 employees working at its campus in East Hanover, and 12,000 employees nationwide, said Meo.
This article contains material from USA Today
Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.
Email: [email protected]; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook
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