US drug supply chain alternative to China might run through Canada, Latin America
- Centre for Strategic and International Studies panellists from Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia discuss speeding pharmaceutical production and trade with US
- About 80 per cent of all fine chemicals come from China, according to one estimate, leading to a medical supply chain vulnerability
Representatives of Canada and three Latin American nations said on Tuesday that they welcomed US efforts to reduce its dependence on China for pharmaceuticals by building supply chain alternatives with them.
Canadian authorities are working with US counterparts on “regulatory cooperation and flexibility, which is going to limit undue regulatory barriers in pharmaceutical trade”, John Layton, trade counsellor at Ottawa’s US embassy, said at a virtual panel discussion held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Carlos De Costa of Brazil’s Washington embassy noted that Brasilia had set up “special economic zones” to encourage investment in pharmaceutical plants, among others, “without any kind of economic complexity, without any kind of taxes, to supply the whole world”.
De Costa, the head of the embassy’s economic division, said that US President Joe Biden’s recent proposed economic partnership with Latin America could further bolster such trade.
01:21
US unveils ‘ambitious’ plans at Summit of the Americas
“I was … impressed by how President Biden at the Summit of the Americas has stressed the importance of our working together for joint prosperity and for resilience in the supply chain,” he said.
