Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act introduced by Tillis

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) on June 22 signed on as the lead original cosponsor of bipartisan legislation that aims to combat shortages of medical products and supplies by strengthening supply chain resiliency and safeguarding against future health crises.

“This legislation will result in a more resilient, strategic supply chain to safeguard American’s access to critically-important medical products,” said Sen. Tillis, who introduced the Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act, S. 2115, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE).

If enacted, S. 2115 would authorize the United States president to enter into trade agreements for the reciprocal elimination of duties or other import restrictions with respect to medical goods to contribute to the nation’s security and public health, according to the congressional record bill summary.

“The pandemic caused major disruptions across nearly all supply chains, and these challenges disproportionately impacted our health care supply chain, from medical devices to life-saving medicines to personal protective equipment,” said Sen. Tillis. “Now is the time to address the long-standing shortcomings in our supply chains that were highlighted over the pandemic, repair the damage done, and ensure America is adequately prepared for future national security and public health threats.”

Sen. Carper agreed that the pandemic wreaked havoc on communities across the country and caused the nation’s medical supply chains to break down.

“We must prevent these same horrible losses from happening again by working together to fix our broken supply chains and better prepare for future public health emergencies,” he said. “This bipartisan legislation will help mitigate trade challenges by authorizing the president to work more closely with our global partners and take action to ensure that health care providers and patients can access life-saving medical products when they need them the most.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Premier Inc., Siemens Healthineers, the Trade Alliance for Health, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Foreign Trade Council endorsed the measure.