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House Republicans press for hearing on 'threat' China poses to US pharmaceutical industry
by Emma Colton
| March 16, 2020 03:07 PM
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee demanded that Democrats schedule a hearing to look into the “threat” of relying on China for medicines used in the United States.
Striking a sense of urgency, a letter signed by ranking member Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, and 12 other Republicans argued the coronavirus pandemic has brought this issue to a head.
“The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has highlighted a critical threat to the domestic supply of life saving prescription drugs. Too many supply chains for our most critical medicines and medical devices are too dependent on China,” said the letter addressed to Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney.
The U.S. is a leader in pharmaceutical development, yet global supply chains “rely so heavily on China that the recent COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in alarming shortages in the United States," the letter said.
The last U.S. plant to make ingredients for penicillin, for example, announced it would shutter in 2004, while Chinese companies have supplied 90% of antibiotics, vitamin C, ibuprofen, and hydrocortisone to the U.S.
“The Chinese have been attacking America on multiple fronts for far too long to allow our critical healthcare supply chain to be utterly dependent on them. We need to look into this for options immediately,” Roy told the Washington Examiner.
The spread of the coronavirus has ignited a new push from the Trump administration to urge pharmaceutical companies in the country to cut their reliance on China for drugs and medical devices.
“China has managed to dominate all aspects of the supply chain using the same unfair trade practices that it has used to dominate other sectors — cheap sweatshop labor, lax environmental regulations, and massive government subsidies,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said. “As President Trump has said, what we need to do is bring those jobs home so that we can protect the public health and the economic and national security of the country.”
A "Buy American" executive order for medicine and other medical supplies is planned for this week, Navarro said Monday.
"The essence of the order … is to bring all of that home so that we don’t have to worry about foreign dependency,” he told CNBC, arguing that the U.S. is dependent on foreign sources for too many supplies. "We’ve got face mask issues, goggle issues, things like that."
Rosemary Gibson, a senior adviser at the Hastings Center, told the New York Times that it would only be a matter of months before U.S. shelves were bare if China were to stop exporting drugs.
“In the event of a natural disaster or global pandemic, then the United States will wait in line with every other country for essential medicines,” she said.
The March 13 letter to Maloney highlights a recent article from a Chinese state-run outlet stating, “If China retaliates against the United States at this time ... it will also announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the United States. Then the United States will be caught in the ocean of the new coronaviruses.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...eat-china-poses-on-us-pharmaceutical-industry
by Emma Colton
| March 16, 2020 03:07 PM
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee demanded that Democrats schedule a hearing to look into the “threat” of relying on China for medicines used in the United States.
Striking a sense of urgency, a letter signed by ranking member Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, and 12 other Republicans argued the coronavirus pandemic has brought this issue to a head.
“The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has highlighted a critical threat to the domestic supply of life saving prescription drugs. Too many supply chains for our most critical medicines and medical devices are too dependent on China,” said the letter addressed to Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney.
The U.S. is a leader in pharmaceutical development, yet global supply chains “rely so heavily on China that the recent COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in alarming shortages in the United States," the letter said.
The last U.S. plant to make ingredients for penicillin, for example, announced it would shutter in 2004, while Chinese companies have supplied 90% of antibiotics, vitamin C, ibuprofen, and hydrocortisone to the U.S.
“The Chinese have been attacking America on multiple fronts for far too long to allow our critical healthcare supply chain to be utterly dependent on them. We need to look into this for options immediately,” Roy told the Washington Examiner.
The spread of the coronavirus has ignited a new push from the Trump administration to urge pharmaceutical companies in the country to cut their reliance on China for drugs and medical devices.
“China has managed to dominate all aspects of the supply chain using the same unfair trade practices that it has used to dominate other sectors — cheap sweatshop labor, lax environmental regulations, and massive government subsidies,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said. “As President Trump has said, what we need to do is bring those jobs home so that we can protect the public health and the economic and national security of the country.”
A "Buy American" executive order for medicine and other medical supplies is planned for this week, Navarro said Monday.
"The essence of the order … is to bring all of that home so that we don’t have to worry about foreign dependency,” he told CNBC, arguing that the U.S. is dependent on foreign sources for too many supplies. "We’ve got face mask issues, goggle issues, things like that."
Rosemary Gibson, a senior adviser at the Hastings Center, told the New York Times that it would only be a matter of months before U.S. shelves were bare if China were to stop exporting drugs.
“In the event of a natural disaster or global pandemic, then the United States will wait in line with every other country for essential medicines,” she said.
The March 13 letter to Maloney highlights a recent article from a Chinese state-run outlet stating, “If China retaliates against the United States at this time ... it will also announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the United States. Then the United States will be caught in the ocean of the new coronaviruses.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...eat-china-poses-on-us-pharmaceutical-industry