The US may have backed off from its trade fight with China, but a new warning from a congressional commission says that another, much more serious dependency is still mostly ignored. Most of the time, people talk about technology and rare earth minerals, but China's control over the building blocks of modern medicines has become a major point of concern that could leave the US vulnerable in any future diplomatic standoff.
In its most recent annual report, the US China Economic and Security Review
Commission told lawmakers to act quickly to improve oversight of pharmaceutical of US Supply Chain. The report says that a law from 2020 needs to be changed right
away so that the US Food and Drug Administration can get more information from
drugmakers about where they get their raw materials and how much they get.
The commission says that the US Supply Chain can't keep ignoring how much its pharmaceutical
industry relies on China. After Beijing recently tightened export controls on a
number of rare earth minerals, the worry came back with new urgency. This move
made markets around the world nervous and showed how quickly China can use its
industrial power as a political tool.
It has taken decades for China to become a part of the pharmaceutical supply
chain. The country has spent a lot of money on large-scale chemical and drug
production since the 1950s, making one of the biggest and cheapest production
networks in the world. China makes a large part of the key starting materials,
which are the chemical compounds that are used to make medicines in the early
stages of the manufacturing process. Then, these compounds are turned into
active pharmaceutical ingredients, which are the parts of drugs that make them
work.
It's still hard for the US Supply Chain to figure out how much it really depends on this.
Pharmaceutical companies don't often give detailed information about where
their drugs come from, which makes it hard for policymakers to see what's going
on. The US Pharmacopeia, a nonprofit group that sets standards for drug
quality, says that China's role in the global pharmaceutical market is not only
important but also necessary for it to work.
Experts say that even though trade tensions have calmed down for now, China's
control over the chemical inputs that make up everything from common
antibiotics to treatments for chronic diseases is a strategic weakness. If
relations between Washington and Beijing get worse again, supply problems could
quickly affect hospitals, pharmacies, and factories.
The commission has told the US to get its pharmaceutical ingredients from more
than one source, build up its own capacity, and give companies reasons to stop
relying on Chinese suppliers. Analysts are worried that without these steps,
the world's largest economy will keep relying on its main strategic rival for
some of its most important medical needs.
The report is another reminder that supply chain resilience is still a work in
progress in the post-pandemic world. China's long-standing dominance in the
early stages of drug production has become a geopolitical tool that could
affect future conflicts, beyond just tariffs and trade disputes.
Also Read :- World Care Magazine