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Starting 80 years ago, the United States saved Europe from itself in World War II. Following that, we rebuilt Western Europe with the Marshall Plan and protected them from the Soviets. That kind of generosity typifies the American spirit and our positive impact on the world. During a time of war, generosity toward your allies is important. But at this point, the better word than “allies” to describe Western Europe’s relationship with us would be “sponges.”
It’s long been known that America subsidizes health care for the rest of the developed world. Although America is less that five percent of the world population, we provide about two-thirds of new drugs.
Americans foot the bill for new drugs. European governments don’t do this: one, they don’t fund research like we do; and two, they operate single-payer health systems. That means they just tell pharmaceutical companies how much they’ll pay for specific drugs. The reason it’s so expensive for us is because nobody in Europe pays their fair share. (In that way, it’s just like NATO!)
President Trump has delivered on lowering drug prices. He’s partnered with drug manufacturers to offer lower prices than Europe through TrumpRx. He negotiated with the United Kingdom. The British have decided to play ball, signing an agreement to raise the net UK price on new drugs in exchange for tariff relief. (Yes, tariffs can work to encourage positive behavior.) However, other socialist European sponges really don’t like this. They want to continue to let the American taxpayer pay too much so that they can pay less for medicine.
Public enemy No. 1 here is Germany. For decades, bureaucrats in Berlin have forced mandatory price cuts on American-developed medicines the second they arrive in Germany. They do this while bragging about how great their healthcare system is compared to ours – their healthcare system that only exists because of American generosity (in paying their military bills) and American innovation (in creating medicines they never could have).
Now Berlin has published a new cost-containment bill that creates even more rebates and price cuts to exploit this system even more. European Union Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen rails against socialism, but then turns around and enforces price controls that depend on it.
The Trump administration announced its intention to launch a Section 301 investigation on countries that put “unreasonable or discriminatory” burdens on the American taxpayer. Germany and other European countries should be at the top of that list. The president announced on Truth Social that if the EU doesn’t play ball, he will increase tariffs on them by 25 percent. We’ve been nice for 80 years, it’s time for them to be nice back. Releasing the Section 301 investigation is the next step in establishing more fairness.
Germany is Europe’s largest economy and the third largest economy in the world. It could afford to pay its fair share (for once). Yet instead, Germany lectures the rest of Europe about “solidarity” and “unity.” What Germany couldn’t accomplish those 80 years ago with tanks, they do now with mandates and economic bullying. Indeed, the European Union anthem about “all men becoming brothers” is in German! Enough is enough. Through the current Section 301 investigation into the European Union and risk of additional tariffs, President Trump is right to hold these sponges accountable for gouging American patients.
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