White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro confirmed the administration is working on an executive order to eliminate the government’s reliance on foreign-made medical supplies. China, in particular, is monopolizing medicine and weaponizing it. They are threatening to or already do hold back much-needed drugs and supplies.
The “Buy American” order comes after Republicans in Congress expressed concerns about our reliance on China for drugs and medical supplies. China wants to be the drugstore of the world and they are succeeding.
Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio asked Trump to support the Senate’s “efforts to invest in diversifying our supply chain, especially in pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.”
Mr. Navarro wants to tighten “Buy American” laws so federal agencies are required to purchase American-made pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
PUTTING A STOP TO CHINA’S MONOPOLY
The order would prevent federal agencies from purchasing medical supplies, including face masks, gloves, and ventilators, from China.
Dump the Regs
“To help facilitate such production, the White House is also pushing for streamlined regulatory approvals for American-made products and more detailed labeling of the origin of products made offshore,” the NY Times reported based on word from the White House.
Frightening Statistics
While the United States remains a global leader in drug discovery, much of the manufacturing has moved offshore. The last American plant to make key ingredients for penicillin announced it would close its doors in 2004.
Chinese pharmaceutical companies have supplied more than 90 percent of U.S. antibiotics, vitamin C, ibuprofen and hydrocortisone, as well as 70 percent of acetaminophen and 40 to 45 percent of heparin in recent years, according to Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
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China has prevented the export of surgical face masks, severely limiting supplies in the U.S. and countries around the world.
Unfair Trade
“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,” Navarro told New York Times. “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.”
“China is known as the world’s factory for car parts, toys and electronics, but it also churns out much of the penicillin, antibiotics and pain medicines used across the globe, as well as surgical masks and medical devices,” according to the Times.
He added that the EO would cover more than 400 “essential medicines” that “satisfy the priority health care needs of the population.” Additional products targeted in the order include “medical countermeasures” made to protect against chemical and biological threats, radiation, nuclear fallout and infectious diseases like coronavirus.
CBS News Producer Sara Cook
.@CBSNews confirms the White House is working on an Executive Order to decrease American dependence on foreign countries and to bring production back to the US by requiring federal agencies looking to purchase pharmaceuticals and medical supplies/equipment to “Buy American”
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) March 11, 2020
Peter Navarro tells @CBSNews the Trump admin is looking to tighten domestic procurement through a 3-pronged strategy: “Buy American,” streamlining regulations, & incentivizing new technologies. The EO targets “essential medicines,” “medical countermeasures,” & their supply chains
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) March 11, 2020
“Essential medicines” refers to the 400+ medicines designated by the WHO that “satisfy the priority health care needs of the population”
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) March 11, 2020
“Medical countermeasures” are products the US has identified to fight 5 types of threats: chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear, & emerging infectious diseases like #COVID19. This includes medicines, supplies like face masks and gloves, and medical equipment like ventilators
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) March 11, 2020
But Navarro stresses “nothing we do now will impede in any way our ability to get what we need when we need it from foreign sources.” The action directs agencies to buy American, but also provides some escape hatches where necessary—like if certain products aren’t available
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) March 11, 2020
Revisiting this thread from earlier to add one thing: this executive action will be rolled out soon—it’s going through a process, but it’s on “Trump Time”—which Navarro says means “as soon as possible.”
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) March 12, 2020
The chinese communist government has declared germ warfare on the United States, and the rest of the world, and our liberal presstitutes and democrat politicians are happy about that.
Absolutely.
I wonder if I can sue a state entity for exposing me to Indian made toiletries while incarcerated? That’s a violation of the oath of office in state service.
75% of Indians defecate outdoors in public and they are making toiletries for us. Too bad they don’t use the toiletries they make themselves.
China is ALWAYS at war with the West and the US in particular. When are we going to join the fight?
I have had to change my blood pressure medicine three times, because the stuff i was prescribed was contaminated or otherwise defective. It needs to stop.
I suggest reading ‘China Rx,’ Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine by Rosemary Gibson and Janard Prasad Singh.