India urges US to lift ban on export of key products

U.S. OFFICIALS HAVE PROMISED TO CONSIDER THE MATTER AND FIND SOLUTIONS AS THE BAN IMPACTS SUPPLIES TO INDIA

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: Indian officials have raised with their US counterparts the impact of a wartime production law on the supply of raw materials needed by Indian manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines and the two sides are working together to find appropriate solutions.

The matter was taken up by India’s ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu soon after the Defense Production Act was invoked by President Joe Biden on February 5 to boost domestic vaccine production. External affairs minister S Jaishankar raised it with secretary of state Antony Blinken when they spoke on Monday, people familiar with developments said.

Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, too took up the matter with the US administration in February, and the firm’s CEO Adar Poonawalla requested Biden through a tweet on April 16 “to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S”.

The US side has promised to “give the matter due consideration” and to work with India to “find appropriate solutions”, according to the people cited above.

The curbs put in place by the US administration – the American side insists there is no “explicit export ban” – have affected the supplies of more than 35 crucial items needed by Indian vaccine manufacturers such as SII and Biological E. SII officials have said the raw materials are needed for mak ing the Novavax dose and Covishield. Poonawalla told CNBCTV18 on Wednesday that Covishield production is not likely to be hit, but its Novavax production is likely to be hampered.

SII currently manufactures about 170 million doses of both vaccines a month and reports have suggested that production could be hit if the US curbs continue for a few more weeks. Besides scaling up production to meet India’s needs, SII and Biological E are expected to face problems in meeting contracts signed with other countries.

Participating in an online discussion on Monday, Jaishankar referred to the matter indirectly when he said he was “pushing other countries, particularly some big countries, [to] please keep the raw materials flowing for vaccines to be made in India”. He also highlighted the crucial role of global supply chains in the manufacture of vaccines while responding to a question on criticism of India’s vaccine exports.