WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill to increase US manufacturing of prescription drugs in a bid to reduce the country’s over-reliance on China for critical medication.
The “Beat China Act” will create tax breaks to incentivize pharmaceutical companies and medical device suppliers to relocate to the United States after the coronavirus pandemic exposed China’s monopoly on urgent medical supplies, the lawmakers said.
“For too long, our manufacturing has moved overseas, taking American jobs, jeopardizing our supply chains and forcing us to depend on competitors,” said GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us just how dangerous it is to rely so heavily on other countries, including China, for critical, life-saving products like drugs and medical devices as well as supplies like gowns, masks and swabs,” she added.
“It is time we incentivize companies to bring those factories and jobs back to the United States,” she said.
nypost.com/2020/06/12/gop-lawmakers-unveil-beat-china-bill-to-up-drug-manufacturing/