Press Release
Trump takes action to increase access and reduce costs of prescription drugs to AmericansMost-Favored-Nation Pricing puts American patients first and delivers fairness in global markets“President Trump’s bold action today to address the root causes of the outrageous and unfair prices paid for prescription drugs by Americans are much welcomed and long overdue—the status quo of the American consumer subsidizing the global market is over,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). On May 12, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish Most-Favored-Nation Pricing for pharmaceutical products, ensuring Americans pay fair prices compared to similarly developed nations, leading to today’s announcement with Pfizer to address unfair prescription drug prices. “For too long, government policies of foreign nations have disadvantaged the United States and forced American patients to pay more for the exact same medication, while at the same time subsidizing the research and development of such drugs, forcing Americans to decide between putting food on the table or buying lifesaving medications for their families,” said Smith. America is the engine of global drug development, investing far more in drug development than the rest of the world, while at the same time, Americans pay the highest prices for prescription drugs due to global freeloading. “As Secretary Kennedy noted, the exact same drug, many times manufactured in the same factory right here in New Jersey, is sold in Great Britain for one-tenth the price it is sold for here. Today’s announcement with Pfizer presents a clear path forward on how to deliver better patient outcomes to all Americans seeking healthcare and reinvigorate American manufacturing through renewed investment in American jobs to create high-quality products that save American lives,” Smith continued. The joint agreement negotiated by President Trump allows every State Medicaid program access to MFN drug prices on Pfizer products, reducing costs and strengthening Medicaid’s long-run fiscal health, while delivering better results for the most vulnerable. Also included in today’s announcement was the launch of the direct-to-consumer website—TrumpRx—where Americans can buy medicine at discounted prices without utilizing insurance. “Millions of Americans with chronic health conditions will see lowered costs for vital medications and a healthcare ecosystem that can develop more drugs to treat diseases that have historically been cost prohibitive.” A long-time advocate of increased investments in disease research and basic drug research, Rep. Chris Smith has long sought to address the burden of chronic disease on American families and their finances, and has historically voted to allow Americans—and especially Veterans—to purchase prescription drugs at the lowest possible price. “For years, we have heard about drug shortages, increasing prices, and inability to invest in new drug developments due to cost and regulatory barriers—today, President Trump took decisive action to address the fundamental barriers holding back American drug development and delivery, while at the same time, generating new American jobs in the life sciences industry—a critical industry to the State of New Jersey.” “As FDA Commission Makary said, ‘Today marks the beginning of the end of the great American rip-off,’ all thanks to President Trump’s success—where so many before him have fallen short,” concluded Smith. ### Contact: |