US officials head to Berlin for drug pricing talks

Senior U.S. trade and health officials are expected to meet with the German government in mid-November for talks on its drug pricing policies, a German government spokesperson confirmed to POLITICO.

The talks come as Germany races to avoid U.S. tariffs if it does not reach an agreement with Washington — after the Trump administration launched a trade investigation into Berlin’s pricing policies in June.

The Trump administration alleges Germany underpays for new drugs, leaving the U.S. to shoulder a disproportionate share of the global cost of developing innovative medicines.

As part of consultations required under Section 301 probes, a meeting between U.S. trade and health officials with Germany’s economy and health ministries will take place in Berlin in mid-November, a spokesperson for the German economy ministry told POLITICO on Friday.

Five officials and diplomats based in Berlin, Washington and Brussels with knowledge of the situation said that senior U.S. officials were going to Berlin next week. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is not expected to be part of the delegation.

“The fact that this is a senior U.S. delegation travelling to Berlin might indicate that there is some landing zone for a deal,” said a former USTR official, who like others cited in this article was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

USTR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. pharma lobbyists are urging Germany to increase the share of its GDP spending on new medicines, roll back recent changes to discount prices of innovative drugs, and introduce an oversight mechanism to make sure any commitments Germany makes to Washington are implemented.

Germany has defended its right to determine its own spending on medicines. After the trade investigation was announced, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the country’s drug pricing decisions were “a purely domestic matter.”

While the agenda for the meeting is confidential, the German government spokesperson said it is using such consultations “to explain to the U.S.” the system of paying the pharmaceutical sector more for medicines that provide the greatest value, as well as the recently enacted changes to statutory health insurance financing.

A European approach?

The bilateral talks come as the EU is looking for ways to tackle the tariff threats in a more coordinated way; France and Italy have also come under U.S. pressure over drug pricing. Any trade measure imposed by the U.S. would affect the whole of the EU.

The German spokesperson pointed out that the U.S. and Europe have agreed to a tariff limit.

“We are bound by the EU-U.S. tariff agreement, which sets a 15% tariff cap; compliance with this agreement is also in the U.S.’s interest,” the spokesperson said.

Some EU governments, meanwhile, want to establish an EU-wide pharma task force alongside the European Commission to help navigate pressure from Washington on drug pricing.

French Trade Minister Nicolas Forissier told POLITICO last month that “if we don’t work together and act as a team, countries are inevitably tempted to go it alone.”

However, other EU countries warn of hurdles in setting up a coordinated EU response, given health is a national competence within the 27-member bloc.

Greer has meanwhile been invited to Brussels at the end of the month for a meeting with the EU’s trade ministers, as POLITICO first reported, where the issue is expected to come up.

Louis Westendarp contributed reporting from Berlin.