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French presidency calls out 'fake news' after Trump drug comments

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AFP/The Local France - news@thelocal.fr
French presidency calls out 'fake news' after Trump drug comments
As 'anyone who has set foot in a French pharmacy' knows, drug prices in France have remained broadly stable. Photo by Martin LELIEVRE / AFP

President Emmanuel Macron's office hit back at Donald Trump after his US counterpart claimed he had increased drug prices in France under threat of US tariffs.

Trump has in recent months been announcing pricing deals with drug companies, convincing them to commit to "Most Favored Nation" pricing: matching the lowest price offered in other wealthy nations.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum, the US leader claimed he had strong-armed Macron into agreeing to higher prices in France.

"It's being claimed that President @EmmanuelMacron increased the price of medicines," the French president's office wrote on X.

"He does not set their prices," it added, in a post accompanied by a meme of Trump with the words "fake news".

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"They are regulated by the social security system and have, in fact, remained stable. Anyone who has set foot in a French pharmacy knows this," it said.

In Davos, Trump made fun of Macron for wearing aviator sunglasses - due to a burst blood vessel - during his own speech on Tuesday.

"I watched him yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?" Trump said.

"But I watched him sort of be tough," he added, after Macron said France preferred "respect to bullies".

Trump spoke of his "Most Favored Nation" drug deals, which drugmakers have been making on a voluntary basis in exchange for incentives including tariff relief.

He seemed to imply foreign countries like France were to blame for sky-high prices in the United States. In reality, high medicine prices in the US are due to a combination of powerful health insurance companies and the lack of government regulation.

He said a drug that cost $10 in London "cost $130 in New York or in Los Angeles".

"Basically America was subsidising every nation in the world," he said.

Macron "was at $10 for a pill", he said. "And I said, Emmanuel, you're going to have to do it, to lift the price of that pill to $20, maybe $30."

"I said, Emmanuel, you've been taking advantage of the United States," he said.

He claimed Macron repeatedly refused, until the US leader threatened tariffs - including "an 100-percent tariff on your wines and champagnes".

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"I will do it," Trump claimed the French leader replied.

The US president this week threatened 200-percent tariffs on French wine over France's intention to decline an invitation to join his "Board of Peace" aimed at resolving international conflicts.

In France drug prices are regulated by the social security system, and French residents are reimbursed for some or all of the cost via the Assurance maladie public health system.

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