Roche to invest $50bn in US to avoid Donald Trump’s tariffs

Zurich — Roche said on Tuesday it would invest $50bn in the US over the next five years, creating more than 12,000 new jobs, in the latest huge investment by companies reacting to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs policy.

The Swiss pharma giant said the new positions would include nearly 6,500 in construction and 1,000 at new and expanded facilities.

The announcement comes as drugmakers unveil investments to deal with tariffs from the Trump administration, which is seeking to boost domestic manufacturing.

Earlier this month, fellow Swiss drugmaker Novartis said it would spend $23bn in the US, while Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson also announced sizeable investments recently.

CEO Thomas Schinecker said the investment underscored Roche’s commitment to the US, where it employs 25,000 people across 24 sites. Once the new and expanded manufacturing capacity comes online, Roche will export more medicines from the US than it imports, the Basel company said.

Among the investments, Roche will expand its manufacturing and distribution centres in Kentucky, Indiana, New Jersey and California.

A new gene therapy factory will be built in Pennsylvania, along with a new plant for continuous glucose monitoring in Indiana.

A new factory to make weight loss medicines will be built, with the location yet to be announced, along with a research centre for cardiovascular, renal and metabolism studies in Massachusetts.

“Our investments of $50bn over the next five years will lay the foundation for our next era of innovation and growth, benefiting patients in the US and around the world,” Schinecker said in a statement.

The executive didn’t mention the threat of looming tariffs, with Switzerland facing a 31% charge on its exports to the US.

Last week, the Trump administration launched a probe into pharmaceuticals imports, as part of a bid to impose tariffs on the sector.

The timing and extent of the levies remain uncertain, but the effect could be big, with close to $213bn in pharmaceutical products imported to the US last year, nearly triple 2014’s $73bn, according to the UN trade database.

Reuters