CPA advocates for domestic manufacturing of essential generic drugs, personal protective equipment (PPE), and other critical health care products because it is vital for our country’s health security and national security.
COVID-19 showed that in a pandemic, the United States cannot depend on other countries for essential medicines and other medical supplies. Many countries banned exports of them to assure they had enough for their own people.
It is a national security imperative that our country is not dependent on unfriendly nations. At the height of the pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party threatened to withhold essential drugs from America. This threat reveals the inclination by some nations to use medicines as an economic and geopolitical weapon. We must have the capability to manufacture medicines and medical supplies necessary for the country’s public health and survival.
For far too long, America has been at the mercy of foreign producers that routinely violate FDA safety regulations for life-saving medicines, generic drugs, and essential medical equipment.
It’s the most well-known secret on Capitol Hill: China owns the American generic drug supply chain. Basic thyroid or blood pressure medications might finally be put into pill form in an Indian lab and sold under an Indian brand like Cipla. But the organic compounds, or key starting materials, mostly come from China.
Thanks in no small part to a strong dollar, and the animal spirits of the U.S consumer and businesses, the United States goods trade deficit broke a record in 2024.
Food imports into the U.S. are on the rise. The trend now is for agricultural commodity trade deficits, rather than surpluses, with key commodities like beef usually in a deficit. Despite the increase in food imports, the Food and Drug Administration conducted far fewer than the annual goal of 19,200 inspections, according to FDA data.
The November JQI fell substantially, decreasing by about 0.5%. One of the major reasons behind this decline is falling wages for Electrical equipment manufacturing and Support activities for air transportation.
CPA will be working closely with President-Elect Trump’s team to craft policies that will make a lasting impact on U.S. trade and industrial policy.
