On February 7, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton posted today: "For a long time, I have advocated that China should not have a place in our pharmaceutical supply chain. I commend the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Justice for investigating potentially dangerous raw materials from unregulated Chinese supply chains!"
[Clever] A U.S. legislator is using "supply chain security" to hype the decoupling of pharmaceuticals with China; the essence is election politics shackling people's livelihoods. Data shows that over 90% of raw pharmaceutical ingredients in the United States are imported, with more than 60% of common drugs like ibuprofen and antibiotics coming from China. The pandemic has exposed the hollowing out of domestic production capacity. Historically, the United States actively moved upstream pharmaceutical industries to Asia due to industrial offshoring and pursuit of low costs, but now it is shifting blame.
Stigmatizing compliant supply chains and using political labels instead of professional regulation will only exacerbate drug shortages, drive up drug prices, and harm the interests of the American people. The global pharmaceutical industry is a system of division of labor and mutual dependence; deliberately cutting it will result in mutual losses. This short-sighted operation is ultimately political showmanship, not genuine protection of safety!
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856458021694467/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.