WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) will introduce the Protecting our Pharmaceutical Supply Chain from China Act, which would end U.S. dependence on China for pharmaceutical manufacturing. The bill’s key provisions would go into effect in 2022 and have no impact on the current coronavirus pandemic. No FDA resources will be diverted to begin implementation.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s outrageous threats to withhold lifesaving drugs from the U.S. endangers public health and should open our eyes to our dangerous over-reliance on China in our medical supply chain,” said Rep. Gallagher. “This is a national security imperative that to many Americans, is a matter of life and death. It’s past time for us to develop an aggressive plan to move critical pharmaceutical supply chains away from China.”
“The Chinese Communist Party threatened to cut off America’s access to vital drugs in the midst of a pandemic caused by its own failures. It’s time to pull America’s supply chains for life-saving medicine out of China and make the CCP pay for contributing to this global emergency,” said Senator Cotton.
Specifically, the bill will:
  • Track active pharmaceutical ingredients through an FDA registry.
  • Block the federal government from purchasing pharmaceutical products from China or products with active pharmaceutical ingredients created in China*.
  • Create transparency in the supply chain by instituting a country of origin label of all imported drugs.
  • Provide economic incentives for manufacturing drugs and medical equipment in the United States.
*This requirement will be phased in over two years. The FDA may issue waivers if the active pharmaceutical ingredients are only available in China, however, no waivers may be issued after 2024.
Background:
Today, most active pharmaceutical ingredients used for drugs in the United States are made in China, including 95% of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 70% of acetaminophen, and 40-45% of Penicillin. This vulnerable state of affairs is due to the Chinese Communist Party having spent a generation cornering this strategic market.
After China covered up the spread of the coronavirus which lead to a global pandemic, a Chinese Communist Party organization asserted that Beijing could “announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the United States. Then, the United States will be caught in the ocean of viruses.” China’s duplicity and hostility to the United States has shown that it is past time to move pharmaceutical production out of China.
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