Roche chairman still expects diagnostics hit from US tariffs

ZURICH, March 7 (Reuters) - Roche ‌expects its ​agreement ​with the U.S. government will keep its medicines exempt from the current round of import tariffs, but ‌its diagnostics division remains exposed and could face renewed ⁠duties after an initial 150-day period, Chairman Severin Schwan said on Saturday.

Roche ‌was one of nine major ‌pharmaceutical companies that agreed a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump in December to cut the prices of their ​medicines in return for removing the threat of tariffs for three years.

"As far as pharmaceuticals are concerned, we assume ⁠our agreement with the government is binding and that we will continue to be ​exempt from tariffs on the import of medicines," Schwan told Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

"But our diagnostics ​business continues to be significantly affected," ‌he added.

Roche's diagnostics division, which generated sales of nearly 14 billion Swiss francs in 2025, exported ⁠a large share of its tests and instruments from Switzerland and other European countries to the United States, Schwan said.

Roche also produced ⁠diagnostics products in the U.S., which faced import tariffs from China, he ​said.

"But because China has introduced retaliatory tariffs, we end up, as a U.S. net exporter, paying tariffs twice. That's absurd," he said.

Schwan said he ‌expected the U.S. government to impose import tariffs again under a different legal basis after the ‌150-day limit on tariffs expires.

Roche had no plans to split ⁠off its diagnostics division, he ‌said. "That is not a ​topic at all. We are sticking with it," he told the newspaper.

(Reporting by John RevillEditing by Tomasz ‌Janowski)

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