The German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has lashed out at the opening of an investigation by the United States Government into the prices of innovative pharmaceutical products in Germany, considering that it could imply discriminatory treatment towards the country's trade, and has stressed that the organization of health insurance and drug reimbursements belongs to the internal German sphere.
Along these lines, he has made it clear that he rejects the Trump Administration's ability to influence health management related to drugs in Germany, although he has shown his willingness to provide the information requested by the US Executive.
"If the United States wants to obtain more information about this, we will be happy to provide it. But the issue of reimbursement within insurance companies is an internal matter, a matter of domestic policy. It is a topic that we must discuss in Germany," Merz told the media in Brussels.
In this way, the head of the German government has asked the United States to respect the agreements reached by Germany in the field of innovative medicines. "That the United States adheres to the agreements we have regarding reimbursement by insurance companies for modern medicines, that is a decision that we make," he asserted.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has launched an investigation under Section 301 against Germany to assess whether the "persistent" and "insufficient" payments for innovative pharmaceutical products by the European country constitute discriminatory treatment for US trade.
Washington authorities have urged Germany to continue with "constructive" negotiations with the aim of "correcting this imbalance."
"President Trump has made it clear that American patients should not bear a disproportionate burden in global pharmaceutical research and development," said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
More than a year ago, US President Donald Trump commissioned Greer to promote the necessary measures to correct the imbalances detected in the international pharmaceutical innovation market with other countries, which, as he denounced, end up forcing "American patients to pay a disproportionate amount for global pharmaceutical research and development".