America must protect its drug supply from China

The Chinese Communist Party controls America’s drug supply. Policymakers must reduce our nation’s reliance on China, and recently introduced legislation offers a good start.

Sen. Tom Cotton‘s (R-AR) Securing America’s Drug Supply from Communist China Act would “eliminate the national security risk posed by CCP influence over entities that sell pharmaceutical products to the American public.”

By some estimates, the United States imports 90% of the materials it needs to make drugs. Although half of those come from India, New Delhi gets 70% to 80% of its pharmaceutical ingredients from China. More than 90% of U.S. generic drugs depend on Chinese manufacturing, including 27% of U.S. military drug sales, according to a 2023 Pentagon study.

So Beijing has enormous influence over the drugs millions of ordinary Americans rely on, including those for blood pressure, ibuprofen, and penicillin. That is a danger to individual health and to the nation.

China is America’s only