Lake County Gazette

WASHINGTON—On June 27, Representatives Brad Schneider (IL-10) and Michelle Steel (CA-45)  introduced legislation to secure U.S. medical supply chains and reduce our, and our allies’, reliance on China by empowering the United States Trade Representative to negotiate trade agreements for medical goods and services between the United States and key allies and partners around the world. Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the Senate companion legislation.

“We saw during the COVID-19 pandemic how weaknesses in our supply chain can stop us from getting critical supplies. I have long advocated for strengthening our supply chain resiliency, both to prevent future disasters, and to improve our national security and maintain our posture as a global economic powerhouse. That’s why I am proud to introduce this bipartisan, bicameral legislation with my colleague, Rep. Steel. Together, we will do everything in our power to create strong strategic alliances in the interest of improving supply chain resilience for medical goods and services,” said Schneider.

“If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it is that we cannot trust the CCP as reliable source for any part of our supply chains, especially vital medical supplies including drugs, PPE, or medical equipment,” said Steel. “I am proud to introduce this commonsense legislation to ensure that the U.S. and our allies around the world can build strong, dependable, supply chains for essential medical products. Our national security depends on it.”

“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 (PPE). Now is the time to address 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," said Senator Tillis. “This legislation will result in a more resilient, strategic supply chain to safeguard American’s access to critically-important medical products.”

“The pandemic wreaked havoc on our communities and caused our medical supply chains to break down during the worst possible time. 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,” said Senator Carper. “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.”

Background 

The Medical Supply Chain Resilience Act:

• Establishes a new and modern medical product and services supply chain to support the United States and its health care needs including any future pandemics.
• Strengthen national security and equips our medical professional with safe and reliable products.
• Cuts burdensome and costly provisions by empowering the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to negotiate Trusted Trade Partner Agreements, these modern agreements will reduce or eliminate tariffs, quotas, and other barriers to enhance manufacturing in the United States and with trusted allies.
• Implements strong safeguards to protect U.S. intellectual property, strong regulatory compliance, and global health security.

Read the full bill text here.

Original source can be found here.