Isn't it illegal to move drugs across the border? Importing other goods seems much simpler. I mean, according to this you can only import drugs into USA if you are the manufacturer, meaning USA doesn't permit global market forces.

https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/10-faqs-on-prescrip...

Say you have a drug that you need to charge $100 to make it worth your time. Other countries say they will only pay $20 for it. Since the US doesn't have price controls, they will charge $180 here to make up for missing revenue in other countries. So in effect, the US subsidizes countries with universal healthcare.

drugs are very expensive everywhere it's possible, and implicitly expensive drugs are not available where they're unaffordable (and hence no market at the high price). This leads to bigger group buying programs and a focus on generics, but has the unfortunate effect of shifting the focus of drug companies to very high price, small-market specialty drugs and lifestyle & vanity drugs that a broad, public healthcare system would never cover.