President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs if Denmark resists his plan to acquire Greenland territory could disrupt Ozempic, one of America's most popular exports.
President Trump has added Denmark to a list of targets for tariffs that includes Canada, Mexico and China, as he ramps up his rhetoric about the United States taking Greenland out of Denmark's hands.
Danish multinational pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is the sole owner of semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Ozempic and Wigovy. A one-month supply of Ozempic costs nearly $1,000 without insurance, but manufacturer coupons and patient assistance programs are available.
Novo Nordisk is estimated to be responsible for half of Denmark's sales. gross domestic product growth In 2024.
Pharmaceuticals accounted for about 30% of Danish imports through U.S. ports in 2024, according to census data available through November.
Polling from KFF A survey last year found that one in eight U.S. adults said they had tried a GLP-1 drug like Ozempic, including nearly half of people with diabetes and four percent of people with heart disease. Contains 1.
A Novo Nordisk spokesperson did not directly address the tariff threat when asked for comment. However, we do not comment on hypotheses or speculation. Today's global geopolitical landscape is extremely dynamic, and we remain focused on delivering lifesaving medicines to patients. ”
Medical supply chain experts have previously said President Trump's tariff proposals would likely increase the price of imported medicines. Still, several factors are at play regarding the use of semaglutide in the face of the president-elect's threats.
How serious is Trump?
The next administration will have broad authority to enact tariffs and will be able to structure them as specifically as they wish. But some trade experts doubt that tariffs on Denmark will ever materialize.
“We don't know whether the current obsession with Greenland is a distraction or a real thing,” said Lori Wallach, director of the American Economic Liberties Project's Trade Rethinking Program.
“There would need to be a legal basis for imposing tariffs, even if there was a reason,” Wallach added. “And depending on what laws he applies, I can't imagine what would work, but it could take a while.”
But this is not the first time President Trump has imposed tariffs on European allies.
During his first term, Trump enacted taxes on European steel and aluminum imports, saying they threatened national security. President Trump has similarly cited security concerns as a reason for his interest in Greenland. President Biden suspended these tariffs in 2021 as part of an agreement with the European Union.
“There is wide latitude for actions taken in the name of national security. And while there may be immediate retaliation by the European Union, other actions may be taken in courts in the United States and other countries.” There’s also gender,” Penny Nurse, a distinguished scholar at the German Marshall Fund, told The Hill.
Given the popularity and demand for other Danish medical devices, such as semaglutide products and hearing aids, there are likely “trade-offs” that the Trump administration will need to consider with its tariffs on Denmark, Naas said.
How specific can the price list be?
The White House can impose tariffs as targeted as it wants.
Novo Nordisk is a multinational company with facilities around the world, including six facilities in the United States. The company has a facility in Clayton, North Carolina that fills and packages most injectable bariatric products used by patients in the United States.
Giving the example of sweaters imported from Europe, Nurse explained that tariffs “can be as precise as the material they're made of, whether it's for men, women or children.” If it has some kind of decoration, it can be further subdivided. So we can break down products down to a very fine level, and we can be very surgical and strategic. ”
Mark Hendrickson, director of supply chain policy at healthcare improvement company Premier, said tariffs can take into account many factors when it comes to imported drugs.
“Are we just talking about products that are physically imported into the U.S. from Denmark? Or are we specifically talking about products that, in this case, are owned by Novo? Where do they come from? They have facilities all over the world, including Brazil, as well as some local sites in China, France, and the United States,” Hendrickson said.
Regardless of how tariffs are ultimately structured, Hendrickson said Novo Nordisk will have to rethink how it imports its products into the U.S., especially given how large the market is for the company. I'm guessing there is.
There are also international agreements that could allow Ozempic to avoid tariffs.
The 1994 Pharmaceutical Trade Agreement under the World Trade Organization calls for the elimination of tariffs and tariffs on medicines and the substances used in their manufacture. The United States is also one of the signatories to this agreement.
This agreement was last updated in 2011 and includes more than 10,000 products.
Composite version still exists
Semaglutide was declared in short supply by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more than two years ago, during which time compounding pharmacies were able to sell combination versions of semaglutide at much lower prices.
Although the FDA determined Ozempic and Wegovy to be “available” in October, the FDA has not yet removed these products from the drug shortage list.
When asked for comment on when Ozempic and Wigoby will be removed from the shortage list, an FDA spokesperson said, “Drug shortages are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, so when drugs are removed from the shortage list.'' “We are unable to provide a general timeline for this.” on a case basis. ”
“FDA continues to actively monitor drug availability and is currently working to determine whether the demand or projected demand for semaglutide in the United States exceeds the available supply.” they added.
Because compounded drugs are manufactured in the United States by compounding pharmacies, the increased price of Ozempic due to tariffs could lead patients to rely on these domestic sources.
