Should the US President Donald Trump proceed with his threat to also impose tariffs on medicines imported to the US, the impact would be even more palpable.
Merck & Co, based in the state of New Jersey in the US, has a significant portion of its production located in Europe.
For the first quarter of the year, Merck & Co reports a slightly better result than expected at 2.22 dollars per share on sales of 15.5 billion dollars.
The Merck & Co share, which has lost 40 percent of its value over the past year, rises slightly in pre-trading on Wall Street following the report.
