In the U.S. today, frontline cancer treatments are being rationed. ERs are short on sedatives. Amoxicillin—one of the most prescribed antibiotics in the country—has been in critical shortage. These are not temporary disruptions. They reflect a structural breakdown caused by the erosion of America’s pharmaceutical manufacturing base and a decades-long surge in generic drug imports.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stepped into somewhat hostile territory in the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday. But despite dramatic criticism from Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and other top Democrats on the Committee, Bessent took an early victory lap on tariffs.
U.S. based generic drug makers need government support to expand – and maybe even to survive – the onslaught of imports nearly every member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health said in a hearing on Wednesday.
The second round of the early 2000s ‘China Shock’ will impact the rest of the world more than it will the United States. Tariffs and industrial policies – like the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act – have somewhat protected the U.S. from China’s relentless exports.
At a June 4 hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee’s Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee, lawmakers and industry representatives expressed growing frustration with what they described as an overregulated domestic seafood industry that is steadily losing ground to foreign competition.
Importers slowed their buying frenzy that occurred prior to the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs and now April’s trade figures show a not-surprising 16.3% drop for the month to $351 billion.
By the time the Committee hearing with Lutnick was over, it seemed pretty clear that the Trump administration has shifting ideas about reciprocity today, and are less sure about the nature of them than they were before “Liberation Day” on April 2.
Decades of misguided trade policies have transformed the United States into the world’s consumer of last resort, absorbing the world’s excess savings at the expense of its manufacturing sector. U.S.-imposed tariffs are the first step towards rebalancing the system, but they aren’t sufficient.
The American pharmaceutical supply chain has become dangerously dependent on imports and foreign-controlled supply chains. Over the past 20 years, the country has experienced a skyrocketing rate on pharmaceutical imports and increasing foreign reliance.
Yes, reshoring manufacturing is possible. Investors will even go along for the ride, Guardian Bikes CEO Brian Riley told the Senate Small Business Committee in a hearing on May 14.
