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‌In recent years, major global markets for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediates are actively adjusting their supply chain strategies.‌ India continues to strengthen policy support for its API industry, promoting localized production of upstream intermediates and implementing import restrictions to reduce foreign dependence. The European Union plans to enhance its domestic pharmaceutical capabilities through the Critical Medicines Act, aiming to reduce reliance on third-party supply chains. The United States, meanwhile, is leveraging Section 232 investigations as a tool to drive pharmaceutical manufacturing reshoring. As major global markets accelerate the restructuring of API supply chains, industry competition is intensifying and policy uncertainty is rising.

‌‌India: Upward Extension of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Industry‌India and China are both globally significant API producers, with highly complementary industries that are difficult to fully replace. Since 2020, the Indian government has continuously introduced pharmaceutical industry support policies, vigorously promoting domestic production capacity of medicines and APIs through initiatives such as the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) program.

‌EU: Gradually Reducing Dependence on Third-Party Supply Chains‌

The EU has a high and concentrated import dependency on active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for generic drugs. According to a 2021 study by the European Commission, ‌80% of APIs for generic medicines‌ imported into the EU come from ‌China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and India‌. Affected by shifts in the global trade landscape, the EU is refocusing on balancing the generic drug industrial chain and enhancing supply chain resilience, actively promoting the ‌localization of pharmaceutical production‌.

‌United States: Advancing Pharmaceutical Industry Reshoring with a Multi-Pronged Strategy‌In April 2025, the U.S. launched a Section 232 investigation in the pharmaceutical sector. While the imposition of 232 tariffs has been delayed, current policy trends suggest that measures proposed under the ‌International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)‌ may face legal challenges and implementation uncertainty. The 232 tariffs are increasingly seen as a likely alternative to “fentanyl tariffs” or “reciprocal tariffs,” and their implementation this year appears highly probable, signaling a broader push to bring drug manufacturing back onshore and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains.