The US is retreating behind chokepoints and tariffs. It remains determined to invent the future but is struggling to ensure its control Globalisation is out; reshoring is the new realism. Intel’s half-built Ohio campus and Nvidia’s US supercomputer plan demonstrate the very different routes taken by Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the search for homegrown tech dominance. Mr Biden relied on institutions: grants, land and investment incentives. That approach has stalled after last year’s election, rendering Intel’s plant idle. Mr Trump prefers court politics: flattery, pressure and tariff threats ..read more

Notices show Trump administration setting stage for levies on both sectors on national security grounds The Trump administration is kicking off investigations into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs on both sectors on national security grounds, notices posted to the Federal Register on Monday showed. The filings scheduled to be published on Wednesday set a 21-day deadline from that date for the submission of public comment on the issue and indicate the administration intends to pursue the levies under authority granted by the Trade Expansion Act of ..read more

Often dismissed as summertime sniffles, the condition that affects a quarter of UK adults can lead to serious and life-limiting health problems Read more: Pollen peril: how heat, thunder and smog are creating deadly hay fever seasons Sometimes the season starts as early as mid-April; other times it’s slower to get going. But for Lisa Ventura, June is consistently the cruellest month. “I might get lulled into a false sense of security: ‘Oh, it’s the end of May, it hasn’t started yet’,” she says in a heavy tone. “Then, as if on cue, it’s June the first – and bang.” Ventura suffers from “debilita ..read more

Von der Leyen urged to take ‘rapid and radical action’ as president says tariffs on pharmaceuticals coming ‘shortly’ The Irish villages under threat from Trump’s tariffs Pharmaceutical companies in the EU have warned of a “risk of exodus” to the US as stocks in the sector slid around the world on the back of Donald Trump’s renewed threat to impose tariffs on US drugs imports. Drugmakers’ shares across Europe and India, another foreign pharma hub, slipped on Wednesday after Trump indicated that further carnage was on the way in addition to the 20% “reciprocal tariffs” on imports that kicked i ..read more

Cork’s pharmaceutical industry, vital to the local economy, is at risk as US trade policies threaten small towns reliant on the sector Just across the bay from the historic town of Cobh, the last port of call for the Titanic in 1912 on her ill-fated maiden voyage, lies the source of some of the world’s biggest life-savers and givers. Sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, medicinal compounds for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s and Parkinson’s disease, all are manufactured within two miles of the deep port of Ringaskiddy in County Cork ..read more

Health secretary says chaos caused by fears of a global trade war will be ‘another layer of challenge’ US tariffs could adversely affect the supply of medicines to the UK, the health secretary has said. Donald Trump announced a wide range of “reciprocal” tariffs on goods imported into the US, including a 10% levy on the UK as well as 20% on the EU, 34% on China and 46% on Vietnam ..read more

Prime minister says UK faces a ‘changing and completely new world’ after Donald Trump’s global tariffs UK politics live – latest updates Keir Starmer has announced sweeping measures to support the car and pharmaceutical industries, as he said Britain faced a “changing and completely new world” after Donald Trump’s tariffs. The prime minister warned of an “age of insecurity” as stock markets tumbled for a third day after the US president announced blanket import taxes on countries across the world ..read more

The boss’s bonus is an annual debating point at Britain’s biggest company. But that’s not the only issue this year AstraZeneca is used to facing protests over pay at its annual general meetings, given the position of its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, as the best-paid FTSE 100 chief executive for most of the past five years. But pay is not the only issue overshadowing this year’s virtual gathering on Friday. Britain’s biggest listed company, valued at about £170bn, faces investigations in China over import and data breaches, while it ran into controversy when it ditched the planned £450m expa ..read more

Pharma firms are developing drugs that avoid the brain’s opioid receptors to minimise the risks of dependence and overdoses, but not all experts are convinced In January, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first new type of painkiller in more than two decades. The decision roused excitement across the healthcare sector for a key reason: the drug, which is called suzetrigine and sold under the brand name Journavx, is not an opioid. Opioid painkillers such as oxycodone and morphine are still used to treat severe pain in the UK and US. But they come with an obvious downside: t ..read more

Big pharma is eyeing Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, as they lobby Donald Trump to demand higher prices for their medicines. Anthony Albanese has promised to bring down the price of PBS-listed medicines to no more than $25 a script, while the Coalition has already pledged to match it if they return to government. Senior reporter Tory Shepherd speaks to Reged Ahmad about the politics of our affordable medicines You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport Read more ..read more