

**US patients will pay more for generic medicines after President Donald Trump's plan to impose a 100% tariff on imported generics takes effect in August 2026, the chief executive of Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy's Laboratories warned.** US President Donald Trump's plan to impose a 100% tariff on imported generic drugs will raise medicine costs for American patients, the chief executive of Indian pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy's Laboratories warned, as the policy threatens to upend a supply chain that delivers nearly half of America's generic medicines. "Manufacturing generic drugs in India significantly lowers the cost of medicine for the United States, and any tariff on these imports will ultimately be passed on to patients," the chief executive of Dr Reddy's Laboratories said. The tariffs, announced by Trump on his Truth Social platform, will keep generic drug imports at zero percent until Aug. 1, 2026, then rise to 100% for one year before climbing to 200% thereafter. India supplies about 47% of generic drugs consumed in the US by volume, representing $9.7 billion in exports — 37.7% of the country's total pharmaceutical shipments of $25.8 billion in 2025, according to the Global Trade Research Initiative. The two-year window offers Indian drugmakers time to adjust, but building US manufacturing capacity at scale with regulatory approvals may take longer than the grace period allows, industry executives said. The policy could reshape a decades-old supply chain where Indian generics sell at seven to 10 times less than branded alternatives, potentially benefiting US-based manufacturers while squeezing Indian exporters. Citi analyst Veronika Dubajova said the policy appeared likely to favor manufacturers that already produce most of their US-bound medicines domestically. Hikma Pharmaceuticals, the London-listed drugmaker, manufactures more than 75% of its US sales volumes in the country, including 90% to 95% of non-injectable products and about 60% of injectables. Fresenius Medical Care's Kabi division produces more than 70% of its US volumes domestically, with high-value active ingredients sourced in America for products manufactured elsewhere. The previous round of US tariffs on branded and patented medicines, announced in September 2025 at 100%, was followed by an additional 100% levy on selected branded drugs and raw materials in April 2026. After that escalation, the S&P 500 Health Care sector fell 3.2% over the following two weeks while the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index dropped 4.1%, according to exchange data. Thomas V Abraham, research analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said most large Indian pharma companies already have some manufacturing presence in the US, either organically or through acquisitions, and the two-year timeline provides enough room to comply. "Investors could turn risk averse in the near term as they await clarity," he said. Even with a 100% tariff, many Indian generic medicines could remain cheaper than their branded counterparts, which are priced seven to 10 times higher, the GTRI report noted. The additional cost could also be passed on to US health-care providers, insurers and patients, reducing the direct impact on Indian exporters. However, high-value generics and branded generics would become more viable for US-based production. The policy's long implementation period and sparse details mean the financial impact remains difficult to quantify. Fresenius Medical Care reports second-quarter results on Aug. 5, followed by Hikma's first-half figures on Aug. 6, which may offer early signals on how the tariff threat is shaping investment decisions. India, which relies on China for a significant portion of active pharmaceutical ingredients, faces additional supply chain challenges in shifting production to the US. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 2% on Thursday, tracking a global tech rout after Alphabet's AI spending plans and surging oil prices rattled investors. "Investors are already feeling increasingly jittery about the sustainability of the AI rally," said Gerald Gan, chief investment officer at Reed Capital in Singapore. "That said, any short-term correction is likely to attract dip buyers once again." The decline extended losses for a fourth consecutive session, with the broader Hang Seng Index also under pressure. The selloff mirrored weakness on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.15% to 25,137.69 and the S&P 500 lost 1.21% to 7,408.30. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.5%. The dual shock — a 7% surge in Brent crude past $100 a barrel and a 7% drop in Alphabet shares after the Google parent lifted its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to as much as $205 billion — has reignited concerns that higher energy costs and aggressive AI spending could keep interest rates elevated, threatening valuations across the technology sector. The selloff in Hong Kong tech stocks was led by heavyweight names sensitive to both higher oil prices and rising bond yields. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly topped 4.7%, its highest level since January 2025, while the 2-year yield touched 4.37%. Fed funds futures now price in a more than 80% chance of a rate increase in September, up from 52% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Oil prices surged after Yemen's Houthi militant group claimed attacks on two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea, opening a new front in the Middle East conflict. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iranian infrastructure, warning that any Iranian attack on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz would trigger U.S. strikes. Brent crude settled at $100.69 a barrel, its highest level since before the U.S. and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement last month. The tech sector faced additional pressure from Alphabet's earnings, which fueled concerns about the return on massive AI investments. The Google parent raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $195 billion and $205 billion, up from a prior range of $180 billion to $190 billion. Other hyperscalers including Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Amazon also declined Thursday, as investors questioned whether the spending would translate into proportional revenue growth. Tesla dropped 14% after posting a big earnings miss for the second quarter, with operating expenses rising faster than revenue and both Tesla and Alphabet reporting negative free cash flow. In currency markets, the offshore yuan traded near 6.7762 per dollar, while the yen held at 163.76. Gold extended its decline to about $4,040 an ounce as higher interest rate expectations reduced the appeal of non-yielding assets. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

The White House on July 22 accused Chinese startup Moonshot AI of covertly distilling Anthropic's Fable model to build its Kimi K3 system, the first time a senior US official has named a specific Chinese lab for copying an American model. "Open source is not open season on American IP," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted, warning that "sanctions and Entity List designations will be on the table" for companies engaged in large-scale distillation of American AI models. Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, alleged that Moonshot had developed a sophisticated internal platform to conduct large-scale model distillation while rapidly switching between access methods to avoid detection. Kratsios also said Moonshot acquired Nvidia's GB300-equipped servers and accessed GB300 hardware in Thailand, potential violations of US export controls that ban the sale of advanced AI chips to Chinese entities. Entity List placement would cut Moonshot off from American hardware, software, and cloud infrastructure — the same punishment Washington imposed on Huawei in 2019. The broader stakes extend beyond a single startup: if Washington establishes that distillation of American AI models constitutes intellectual property theft subject to sanctions, it would create a new legal framework governing how AI technology flows across borders. ## China Rejects "Politicizing" Technology Issues China's Foreign Ministry pushed back on July 23, with spokesperson Lin Jian saying the country's AI development comes from "greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology." He expressed opposition to "politicizing and instrumentalizing" trade and technology issues, adding that "such actions will only stifle global AI advances." The accusation built on earlier evidence. In February 2026, Anthropic disclosed that it had traced approximately 3.4 million Claude exchanges to Moonshot AI, evidence the company argued showed systematic extraction of its model's capabilities. Anthropic's Fable model became publicly available on July 1, 2026. Moonshot released Kimi K3 as an open-weight model the following week, a compressed timeline that fueled suspicion of bootstrapped capabilities, though several independent researchers have questioned whether a model released days after Fable's public launch could have been built primarily through distillation. ## Sanctions Threat Looms Over AI Supply Chain No formal sanctions or Entity List designations have been announced as of July 23. Moonshot AI has not publicly responded. The full Kimi K3 weights are scheduled to go public on July 27, a release that would make the model's architecture and training methods available for independent scrutiny. The last time Washington imposed similar restrictions on a Chinese technology company — Huawei in 2019 — the move reshaped global supply chains and cost the Chinese firm an estimated $15 billion in lost revenue within two years, according to public disclosures. US-listed AI and semiconductor stocks face potential headwinds from escalating geopolitical risks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 3.2 percent this month as trade tensions have mounted. Defense contractors including Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman could benefit from renewed focus on US-China military competition, after China launched a new large warship that analysts say extends its naval reach into the Pacific. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.