U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Buddy Carter (R-GA) led 49 Republicans in urging President Joe Biden to end a plan to waive intellectual property (IP) protections for U.S. companies.
“According to recent reports, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai reached a tentative agreement with the European Union, India and South Africa to waive IP protections for U.S. developed COVID-19 vaccines,” the lawmakers wrote in an April 8 letter sent to the president. “We write you to convey our serious concerns about waiving these critical IP protections and urge you to do everything in your power to ensure this deal is not finalized.”
Rep. Buchanan, Rep. Carter, and their colleagues pointed out that the USTR’s reported “compromise” neither protects the interests of the United States nor the patients in the developing world who depend on American-designed and American-made medicines.
“In fact, it would undermine the efforts of American scientists working diligently to develop the drugs needed to manage this current pandemic – and future ones, as well,” they wrote. “The agreement that USTR is reportedly set to move forward with will hamstring American medical innovation and destroy countless U.S. research jobs, all to address a supply problem that does not exist.”
Without IP protections, biotech companies would not be able to easily raise capital to fund their research at the expense of billions of patients worldwide, wrote the lawmakers, noting that because America has some of the strongest IP protections in the world, the nation leads the world in biotech research with 80 percent of all experimental medicines in the global development pipeline coming from U.S. labs.
“The reported deal jeopardizes America’s scientific leadership and threatens our national security,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urge you and your administration to reverse course and reject this disastrous agreement.”
Additionally, Rep. Buchanan on April 6 introduced the Protecting American Innovation Act, H.R. 7430, which would establish limitations on modifications to trade agreements.
“Intellectual property rights encourage innovation and help boost the economy,” said Rep. Buchanan. “The Biden administration’s misguided proposal to waive IP protections will discourage innovation and make it more difficult to achieve the next life-saving medical breakthrough.
“It will also serve as a massive giveaway to countries like China, Russia, and India that have been stealing American innovators’ intellectual property for years,” he added.
Rep. Buchanan is one of 10 original GOP cosponsors of H.R. 7430 along with U.S. Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Ron Estes (R-KS), Carol Miller (R-WV), and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA).
U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) sponsored the measure, which would require the USTR to consult with Congress when negotiating U.S. trade agreements, including the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement waivers. It also would require the Executive Branch to report to Congress on why a TRIPS waiver is necessary, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.