- U.S. aims to cut reliance on China for generic pharmaceutical production.
- Abraham Accords countries like Israel and the UAE may support the U.S. supply chain.
- Initiative strengthens national security and proposes an FDA office in the Middle East region.
A U.S. program aims to reduce America's reliance on China for pharmaceuticals, especially generic medications, by relocating production to more cooperative Abraham Accord nations.
Though there is widespread worry regarding the United States' reliance on Chinese goods, apprehension about the vulnerability of the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain to China heightened after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
Certain estimates suggest that China manages approximately 80%-90% of the worldwide supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), which are the components in a drug that produce its therapeutic effects.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the ex-GOP congresswoman from Washington State, is promoting the initiative as a senior fellow at the U.S. Israel Education Association (USIEA), an Alabama organization that educates senior government officials to enhance the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Conversely, countries involved in the Abraham Accords, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and others, might provide essential support to the United States, she noted.
Rodgers, who spent 20 years in Congress, leading the Energy and Commerce Committee and assisting in the establishment of the Abraham Accords Caucus, informed Fox News Digital on Sept. 27 that America’s pharmaceutical supply chains have turned perilously fragile as “so many of them are controlled by China.”
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According to Rodgers, U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs have encouraged many pharmaceutical firms to come back to the U.S., but for generics, “which are 92% of the prescriptions in our nation,” the costs of regulation and labor render their domestic production highly costly.
“It’s an idea whose time has come, I believe, and it would serve both the purpose of ensuring our national security and preventing our dependence on foreign adversarial nations like China for these supply chains,” Rodgers told Fox News Digital.
A primary goal is to set up a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) office in the Mideast area, which she mentioned could be achieved this year.