ZURICH, March 6 (Reuters) - Novartis NOVN.S is not panicking about higher tariffs on pharmaceutical imports that U.S. President Donald Trump could impose, the drug maker's Chairman Joerg Reinhardt said in an interview published on Thursday.

President Trump last month flagged potential import duties of about 25% on pharmaceuticals as part of measures affecting other industries, including semiconductors and automobiles, as he seeks to reshape global trade.

Reinhardt told Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung that Novartis was following developments closely.

"Rhetoric is one thing, what actually happens is another. Traditionally, pharmaceutical products have always been exempt from tariffs. So this would be something new," Reinhardt said.

"We are not panicking. But of course we are following what is coming with interest and are preparing for possible scenarios," he added.

Reinhardt, who is stepping down after 12 years as chairman at the company's AGM on Friday, said Novartis assumed the financial impact of the tariffs would be limited.

"However, it is too early to make a final assessment," he said.

Reinhardt also said he did not expect Novartis's takeover strategy to change significantly under his successor, the former Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY.N CEO Giovanni Caforio.

"A large acquisition is unlikely. On the other hand, there will always be purchases in the single-digit billion range," Reinhardt told the newspaper.

"This strategy was set by the Board of Directors for the long term and will remain so. This will not change with Giovanni."

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

((John.Revill@thomsonreuters.com; +41 41 528 36 37; Reuters Messaging: john.revill.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))