US to go local for essential drugs

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday directed federal government agencies to maximise their procurement of essential medicines, medical countermeasures and critical inputs from local manufacturers to cut the country’s dependence of foreign suppliers, essentially Indian and Chinese pharmaceutical companies. The US Food and Drug Administration, the regulator, will prepare a list of these essential medicines.

“As we’ve seen in this pandemic, the US must produce essential equipment, supplies, and pharmaceuticals for ourselves,” Trump said at an event few hours after signing the “Buy American” executive order. “We cannot rely on China and other nations across the globe that could one day deny us products in a time of need.”

Peter Navarro, the president’s hawkish trade adviser, expanded on the “other nations” to include India, in a background call with reports on the executive order — “China and India tend to have an unfair competitive advantage because of their lax regulatory environment there.” He also alleged these two and other countries used other questionable practices to hold down cots.

The US federal government is the country’s largest purchaser of medicines through the department of veteran affairs, the department of defense, the Public Health Service and the Coast Guard, together called the “Big Four”, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The US imports most of its medical requirements. An estimated 80% of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) used in drugs in the US come from China and India. China is major exporter to the US of medical devices and drugs derived from natural sources, according to a March study by the Council on Foreign Relations.

The US also relied on India and China for generic (or off-patent) drugs, 90% of medicines consumed by Americans. India accounts for 40% of the over-thecounter and prescription drugs. Pharmaceuticals are India’s second largest export to the US, after mineral (diamonds), valued at an estimated $6.3 billion in 2018, according to the office of the US trade representatives.

“We have to study the total implications of the order,” said Ashok Madan of the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA), a trade body. “So many changes are coming. They are going to modify the Free trade Agreements to exclude essential medicines.”