U.S. Chamber opposes ‘Buy American’ bill for Medical Supply Chain Investments

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday that President Donald Trump will sign an executive order this week that would help bring pharmaceutical and medical supply chains back to the U.S., in part by placing new “Buy American” requirements on certain government agencies. And White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow added Monday the Trump administration is considering cutting taxes for companies that relocate their supply chains to the U.S.

Neil Bradley, the chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said a renewed emphasis on Buy American could hurt the international flow of medicine and medical supply chains.

This is not new news that the U.S. Chamber opposes Buy American bills.

Here are headlines the U.S. Chamber has released in the last 10 years.

January 2009 U.S. Chamber Opposes Counterproductive ‘Buy American’ Provisions

January 2010 The Cost of Buy American Mandates on American Jobs

June 2016 Reject the Expansion of “Buy Local” Rules

July 2017 The Illusion of ‘Buy American’ Policy

The above quotes from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce don’t align with our goals. “The Coronavirus has had a negative effect on the US economy and set fear into most Americans. The positive effect it has had is a renewed awakening on the leverage China has on our Medications and the supply chain on most of our products. It is unfortunate that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has taken this stance.” – Don Buckner, Founder, MadeInAmerica.com

While we believe in fair trade with countries to help maintain the supply of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, we also believe it’s a national security risk to depend on an adversary for the majority of medications and medical equipment our country needs. It is smart to bring back domestic production of this industry to balance dependency during a crisis.