Trade war fears spook US policymakers into thinking China could weaponise drug exports
- Pharmaceutical products have thus far been exempt from trade war tariffs, but there is growing fear in Washington about reliance on China
- Experts suggest US is unprepared to deal with minor disruption in supply of many basic drugs from China, with some fearing a malicious contamination
This story is part of an ongoing series on US-China relations, jointly produced by the South China Morning Post and POLITICO, with reporting from Asia and the United States.
The United States relies on imported medicines from China in a big way. Antibiotics, over-the-counter pain medicine and the stuff that stops itching and swelling – a lot of it is imported from China.
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping so far have left pharmaceuticals out of the bilateral trade war, including the announcement last week of a mini-deal. While Trump has used national security as a rationale to slap tariffs or trade sanctions on a variety of imports, medical supplies have not fallen under such scrutiny.
But the US is woefully unprepared to address even minor disruptions in the supply of these drugs.
Medicines can be used as a weapon of war against the United States. Supplies can be withheld. Medicines can be made with lethal contaminants or sold without any real medicine in them, rendering them ineffective
“Medicines can be used as a weapon of war against the United States,” Rosemary Gibson, a senior adviser on health care issues at the bioethics-focused Hastings Centre and co-author of China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America's Dependence on China for Medicine, told lawmakers last month. “Supplies can be withheld. Medicines can be made with lethal contaminants or sold without any real medicine in them, rendering them ineffective.”