WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced the Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act, bipartisan legislation that would provide the United States with greater ability to engage in trade negotiations in order to ensure that critical medical goods and services are delivered safely, swiftly, and efficiently to patients in the United States and around the world.
“The Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act is a critical step toward ensuring that America’s healthcare providers have reliable access to the essential supplies they need,” said Senator Tillis. “By strengthening trade partnerships with our allies and expanding domestic manufacturing, we can enhance our nation’s preparedness for future health challenges. I’m proud to support this bipartisan effort to reinforce our medical supply chains and protect public health.”
“America’s medical supply chains rely heavily on China, posing risks to U.S. national security and public health,” said Senator Bennet. “Our bipartisan bill will address this vulnerability by authorizing the President to deepen relationships with our trading partners.”
“During the pandemic, the U.S. faced severe shortages of medical supplies due to overreliance on foreign adversaries like China,” said Senator Cornyn. “This legislation would allow the U.S. to engage in trade negotiations with trusted allies for medical goods and services, helping ensure we’re better prepared to respond to future global health crises.”
“Life-threatening shortages of testing kits, drugs, and masks during the COVID-19 pandemic showed us just how fragile our medical supply chains are. If we are caught off-guard like we were during COVID once again, more Americans will die,” said Senator Coons. “Working with our most trusted trading partners to make our supply chains more resilient will strengthen our response to future public health emergencies while ensuring health care providers have access to essential medical products and patients have access to life-saving care.”
“Premier commends Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Representatives Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) for their bipartisan leadership in reinforcing the resilience of our nation’s healthcare supply chain,” said Soumi Saha, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Premier Inc. “Building a stronger, more sustainable, and secure supply chain demands a balanced approach – expanding domestic manufacturing while fostering strategic trade partnerships. The Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act is a critical step toward this goal by enabling the designation of trusted trade partners to diversify sourcing for medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Ensuring providers have reliable access to the essential supplies needed to deliver quality patient care is a paramount priority for our nation.”
“The Chamber strongly supports the Medical Supply Chain Resilience Act, which will strengthen supply chains for medical goods and services while bolstering manufacturing in the U.S. and among our close allies and partners,” said John Murphy, Senior Vice President for International Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Enhancing the resilience of medical supply chains is important to both our public health and our national security. The bill would direct the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate trade agreements with trusted allies to eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers that weaken the U.S. medical goods manufacturing base and that of our allies. These agreements would also support intellectual property protection, regulatory cooperation, and collaboration on public and private R&D efforts. Only close allies and partners would qualify for such agreements. Close consultation with the legislative branch would be essential, and Congress would retain a right to disapprove any agreements. This is practical legislation that, if enacted, will apply lessons learned in the Covid-19 pandemic to strengthen America’s health preparedness. The Chamber urges Congress to pass it into law.”
“Authorizing the Administration to negotiate meaningful trade agreements with trusted partners, including the European Union, Japan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, would reduce trade barriers and strengthen medical supply chains. The biopharmaceutical industry, whose exports exceeded $101 billion in 2023, welcomes the Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act and encourages the Administration to embrace this pathway to expand trade with allies.” - PhRMA
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges for supply chains around the world, which disproportionately hampered health care providers’ access to medical devices, treatments, and equipment at a time when these products were desperately needed. By expanding U.S. engagement with our allies across the globe, this legislation would combat shortages of medical products and supplies by strengthening supply chain resiliency and safeguarding against future health crises.
Full text of the bill is available HERE.
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