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Suspension of the de minimis administrative exemption for imports $800 or less

161 points · 154 comments · burnt-resistor

  1. kimos · · focus · HN ↗
    This is actually tragic.

    I worked for an online pharmacy in Canada for many years, and it’s fraught and full of grey areas for sure. But so so many Americans count on importing generics to afford their medication. You’re talking several times the price difference for the same pills, life changing amounts of money for older people on fixed incomes with health problems. They will simply not be able to access their medication anymore.

    1. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

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    2. PunchyHamster · · focus · HN ↗
      I'd imagine even with duty added they'd still end up being multiple times cheaper
      1. hexapus · · focus · HN ↗
        Yeah, it would...and yet, they covered that as well with another recent change: Packages from foreign and Canadian online pharmacies will be prohibited from entering the U.S. if the same medication is sold domestically or if the foreign pharmacy targets U.S. buyers.
        1. kimos · · focus · HN ↗
          It is rarely enforced though. And the pharmacies will just replace it and ship it again.
          1. xethos · · focus · HN ↗
            It was rarely enforced, prior to what GP explicitely called out as a recent change, that will come into effect October 22. We'll see what happens by end-of-year, though I wouldn't count on pharmacies replacing and re-shipping
    3. jojobas · · focus · HN ↗
      Are we talking duties imposed on the generics, or generics imports outright banned?
      1. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

        [deleted]

    4. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

      [deleted]

    5. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

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    6. bitshiftfaced · · focus · HN ↗
      You're claiming that generics tend to be cheaper in Canada than the US. What are you basing this belief on?
      1. m-p-3 · · focus · HN ↗
        Overall generic drugs in the US are indeed cheaper than in Canada, but that is not the case if you don't have insurance coverage. Without that, it might be cheaper for some to order the Canadian generic if they can't afford insurance.

        The other factor is not price, but availability. Some generic are in limited supply or are outright not available in the US.

        1. QuantumGood · · focus · HN ↗
          Generics need to be more carefully sourced if outside the U.S. I prefer brand names from reputable manufacturing areas (Singpore, Germany, etc.), and can get them for close to the price for generics, often starting research at PharmacyChecker.com
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