Bipartisan Bill Introduced Calling for Tariff Liberalization in Pharma, Medical Devices
Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are asking their colleagues to vote to encourage the administration to negotiate with other countries to lower or eliminate tariffs on pharmaceutical products and medical devices, and the U.S. would do the same. Their bill authorizes these sorts of changes.
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The Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act, introduced last week, is not binding on the Office of U.S. Trade Representative. The bill says that before beginning negotiations, the administration should take into account whether the country "demonstrated a commitment to contribute to global health security, including the national security of the United States and the health of United States citizens, by maintaining open trade in medical goods during a public health emergency," as well as whether the country is adhering to its obligations in free trade agreements it has with the U.S. They also ask the administration to consider whether the country is reducing or eliminating "unnecessary trade barriers and distorting practices affecting medical goods," have good regulatory practices for medical goods, and whether they provide adequate intellecutal property rights protections.
The U.S. often complains that other countries put price caps on medical devices or drugs, so that could limit which countries would be eligible.
“The pandemic wreaked havoc on our communities and caused our medical supply chains to break down during the worst possible time. We must prevent these same horrible losses from happening again by working together to fix our broken supply chains and better prepare for future public health emergencies,” Carper said in the news release announcing the bill's introduction.
“The pandemic caused major disruptions across nearly all supply chains, and these challenges disproportionately impacted our health care supply chain -- from medical devices to life-saving medicines to personal protective equipment (PPE). Now is the time to address the long-standing shortcomings in our supply chains that were highlighted over the pandemic, repair the damage done, and ensure America is adequately prepared for future national security and public health threats,” Tillis said in the release. “This legislation will result in a more resilient, strategic supply chain to safeguard American’s access to critically-important medical products.”