U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) and his Republican colleagues are concerned that Germany, Japan, and other high-income countries continue to maintain policies inconsistent with the Trump administration’s objective that U.S. trading partners pay their fair share for pharmaceutical innovation.
Based on a federal report, “these governments continue to use unfair policies to suppress pharmaceutical prices below fair market value and arbitrarily limit access to these life-saving products,” the senators wrote in a June 16 letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“These policies limit export opportunities for U.S. companies, increase the burden on the United States to finance global drug development, and reduce the flow of investment into new treatments and cures,” they wrote.
Specifically, Sen. Young and his colleagues asked that Greer and Lutnick pursue agreements similar to the United States-United Kingdom Arrangement on Pharmaceutical Pricing to address foreign price controls that they say force Americans to subsidize pharmaceutical innovation for the rest of the world, according to their letter.
They also urged the administration to launch a Section 301 investigation into unfair foreign pharmaceutical pricing practices and use it to pursue stronger commitments from trading partners that protect American patients and innovators.
Among the lawmakers who joined Sen. Young in signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Curtis (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Steve Daines (R-MT), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
“The United States should act quickly to send a strong signal that foreign policies undervaluing U.S. innovation and investment will be met with a serious and sustained trade response, particularly before Germany and Japan vote to further unfair drug prices and other countries follow suit if they see no repercussions from the U.S. government,” the senators wrote.