“I assume that the United States of America will honor the agreement,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz told journalists Friday after meeting with EU leaders in Brussels.
That includes “caps on pharmaceutical tariffs,” a German government spokesperson told POLITICO earlier, warning the U.S. should not “jeopardize their proper implementation on either side.”
The fate of the Turnberry accord hung in the balance for months, with EU enabling legislation held up in the European Parliament. EU lawmakers finally voted to enact the deal this week, after months of wrangling over adding safeguards to it. The Trump administration’s latest drug-pricing probe raises fresh concerns that the accord could yet unravel.
“The implementation of the Turnberry Agreement is in the mutual interest of both parties. In it, the U.S. side has committed to applying a 15 percent tariff cap on imports from the EU as a general rule. We are proceeding on that basis,” said a spokesperson from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The spokesperson added that the government “must first clarify the facts” and “examine the concerns raised by the U.S.” with the Federal Ministry of Health, which is responsible for pharmaceutical pricing.
Merz told journalists the country’s drug pricing decisions were “a purely domestic matter.” However, “if the United States would like information on this, we will of course be happy to provide it.”