Arrington Fights to End Foreign Free-Riding on American Medical Innovation

Washington, D.C. – House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) and Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Vern Buchanan (FL-16), led 48 lawmakers supporting the Trump Administration’s efforts to crack down on foreign governments that shift the cost of developing life-saving medicines onto American patients and taxpayers. In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the lawmakers expressed support for President Trump's efforts to ensure foreign nations pay their fair share for American pharmaceutical innovation. The letter asks the Administration to pursue a Section 301 investigation and other trade enforcement measures to address foreign price controls and market-distorting policies that allow wealthy nations to take advantage of U.S. innovation without accounting for the true cost of research and development. “For too long, wealthy foreign nations have reaped the benefits of American pharmaceutical innovation while using price controls and other unfair policies to avoid paying their fair share for these technologies,” the letter reads, in part. “We urge you to use trade enforcement tools, including a Section 301 investigation, to dismantle foreign government policies that force American patients to pay a disproportionate share of global research and development costs for medicines.” You can read the full letter HERE . Last year, Arrington introduced the USTRx Act , legislation that would create a Chief Pharmaceutical Trade Negotiator within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The negotiator would be responsible for identifying foreign drug-pricing policies that increase costs for American patients, issuing annual reports on those practices, and recommending appropriate trade remedies. ###