What specific drug pricing policies did the Trump administration enact and when were they implemented?

1. The first executive order: “Lowering Drug Prices…” (April 15, 2025) — an FDA‑and‑importation push

On April 15, 2025 the White House issued an executive order titled “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First” directing the FDA and other agencies to speed and streamline drug importation and other measures within short timeframes (notably 90 days for importation steps), signaling the administration’s intention to use regulatory routes to lower costs ^[1].

2. The MFN executive order: May 12, 2025 — a most‑favored‑nation framework

On May 12, 2025 President Trump signed the “Delivering Most‑Favored‑Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients” Executive Order, instructing HHS and trade agencies to pursue MFN pricing (requiring that U.S. prices be no higher than prices in comparable developed nations), to develop direct‑to‑consumer sales channels, and to use trade tools if manufacturers did not comply ^{[2] [8]}.

3. July 31, 2025: letters, conditions and a new negotiating posture

The administration followed the May order with a July 31, 2025 fact sheet and letters to major pharmaceutical manufacturers that laid out concrete steps the White House expected — including contractual commitments that companies would not offer better prices abroad than in the U.S., options to sell directly to patients at MFN prices, and the threat of “every tool” being used if firms did not comply ^{[3] [8]}.

4. Tariffs and leverage: 100% tariffs on branded medications and trade pressure

Alongside MFN diplomacy, the administration publicly threatened and in some reporting implemented steep trade measures — including a reported 100% tariff on imported branded drugs — designed to pressure companies to accept MFN terms or face export restrictions; commentators warned of industry responses such as raising foreign prices or supply disruptions ^{[9] [7]}.

5. Voluntary MFN deals announced starting Sept.–Nov. 2025 — Pfizer, AstraZeneca, others

After the deadline the White House announced a sequence of voluntary deals: Pfizer was unveiled as the first MFN partner on Sept. 30, 2025, AstraZeneca followed on Oct. 10, 2025, and additional agreements with Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, EMD Serono and others were announced across October–November 2025 as the administration framed those as delivering MFN prices to Medicaid, Medicare or broader patient channels ^{[4] [5] [6] [10]}.

6. New programs and platforms: TrumpRx and direct‑to‑consumer sales

The administration concurrently promoted TrumpRx.gov — a planned direct‑to‑consumer portal for MFN‑priced drugs — and required HHS to design mechanisms to let manufacturers sell directly to patients at MFN prices, part of an effort to bypass intermediaries ^{[11] [2] [8]}.

7. Medicare negotiations and announced savings (implementation timetable)

The administration also announced negotiated lower Medicare prices for a set of 15 drugs, saying the new Medicare prices will take effect in 2027 and estimating large savings if applied retroactively; reporting places those negotiated reductions as a separate track of administered price cuts tied to the broader pricing push ^{[12] [13]}.

8. Legal, market and political tensions — competing viewpoints in the record

Legal and industry pushback is documented: trade and regulatory threats provoked industry warnings that government price‑setting (including MFN and IRA negotiation approaches) could harm innovation or prompt litigation; press pieces and trade groups signaled opposition while the administration argued MFN corrects alleged foreign “free‑riding” ^{[13] [2] [9]}.

9. What reporting does not say or leaves open

Available sources do not mention fully detailed statutory rulemakings implementing MFN as binding law, nor do they provide exhaustive lists of every date a regulation was published; they instead document executive orders, White House fact sheets, letters to manufacturers, voluntary agreements and trade measures as the principal tools used ^{[2] [3] [4]}.

10. Bottom line — an administration strategy of executive orders, trade leverage and voluntary deals

Between April and November 2025 the Trump administration combined executive orders (April 15 and May 12), follow‑up July letters, tariff threats, and a sequence of voluntary MFN deals plus plans for TrumpRx and Medicare price implementations (with some Medicare price changes slated for 2027), creating a coherent policy package that relies on executive authority, industry agreements and trade pressure rather than a single new statute ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [12]}.