NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) -- Newly announced tariffs could have a major impact on how much you pay for prescription drugs.
The Trump administration announced a 10 percent import tariff on China. The impacts could be felt back here in North Carolina.
Especially when it comes to prescriptions you need. Around 80 percent of common prescription drugs people use in the U.S. have active ingredients sourced overseas, including China.
The potential trade war has two sides - while North Carolina exports like agriculture and furniture could be hurt, it could also drive up prices on imports like prescription drugs.
"Generally speaking, what we saw last time is across all sorts of goods, when countries put retaliatory tariffs on us, those prices, we saw some of those price increases. But more to the point when we were adding tariffs on them, those actually boosted our domestic prices as well. So I don't have a strong reason to believe that those wouldn't also happen in things like pharmaceuticals," says assistant professor and economics expert Andrew Greenland from NC State University.
At Josef's Pharmacy on New Bern Avenue in Raleigh, they're a mom and pop shop. They worry while bigger chains can buy in bulk, it can be harder for them
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While some of the cost to customers may be buffered by insurance, how much small stores can get back from those insurance companies could be impacted.
"That does make it difficult for the smaller pharmacies kind of to stay afloat because we can create some cash flow issues where we're having to buy medications at a higher price. We may not get reimbursed," says lead pharmacist Jonathan Harward.
They say the biggest impact will be on those who pay for their medicine out of pocket. In that case, he says comparison shopping might be your best bet.
"Having prescriptions in multiple places can create, you know, risks because the pharmacist on duty doesn't know everything that you're taking so you want to get everything at one pharmacy. But, you know, you may need to shop around and see, hey, what kind of prices can I get for my medications?," he says.
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