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“President Trump has made clear that American patients should not be shouldering a disproportionate share of global pharmaceutical research and development,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

He cited Germany’s plans to fast-track legislation “that would further reduce its spending on innovative pharmaceuticals.”

The US trade envoy’s office will next receive comments and hold a hearing in September as part of the investigation.

Germany’s health ministry confirmed ongoing talks with Washington on the issue.

“I assume the United States will honour the agreement we have in place. Reimbursements for modern, innovative medicines by our health insurance funds is a decision which falls within our national jurisdiction,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters in Brussels on Friday.

Health Minister Nina Warken said earlier this week it would be tough for Germany to pay higher prices. “We have a tense financial situation in our health insurance system,” she said.

Germany’s VCI pharmaceutical industry federation said it took the US move “very seriously.”

“In an already tense trade policy environment, companies need reliability and planning certainty -- not a new source of disruption,” the group said in a statement to AFP.

Trump has rolled out sweeping tariffs since returning to the White House last year, though the US Supreme Court struck down many of them in February. His administration has since turned to trade probes as officials look to reimpose more lasting duties.

This month, the USTR’s office proposed new tariffs of up to 12.5 percent on dozens of countries under its investigation into forced labor concerns.