U.S. Senate Bill Tackles Medical Supply Chain Weaknesses

The legislation gives the executive enhanced powers to cut red tape and reduce trade barriers with 'trusted allies.'

A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate aims to correct the nation's medical supply chain weaknesses that were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act, sponsored by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Tom Carper (D-DE) would strengthen the government's hand in trade negotiations that ensure that safe and timely delivery of critical medical goods.

A key component of the bill gives the president – through his appointed U.S. Trade Representative -- the authority to negotiate with "trusted allies" to eliminate tariffs and other barriers that weaken the medical goods manufacturing sector in the United States and allied nations. These agreements also would protect intellectual property rights and strengthen regulatory cooperation and collaboration on R&D efforts. Congress would be looped in on the status of these new trade agreements and would reserve the right to reject them. 

"The pandemic caused major disruptions across nearly all supply chains, and these challenges disproportionately impacted our healthcare supply chain – from medical devices to life-saving medicines to personal protective equipment (PPE)," Tillis says in a media release.

"Now is the time to address the long-standing shortcomings in our supply chains that were highlighted over the pandemic, repair the damage done, and ensure America is adequately prepared for future national security and public health threats," he says. 

Carper says the bill "will help mitigate trade challenges by authorizing the president to work more closely with our global partners and take action to ensure that healthcare providers and patients can access life-saving medical products when they need them the most."

"The pandemic wreaked havoc on our communities and caused our medical supply chains to break down during the worst possible time. We must prevent these same horrible losses from happening again by working together to fix our broken supply chains and better prepare for future public health emergencies," Carper says.

The bill has the support of key stakeholders, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Foreign Trade Council, the Trade Alliance for Health, the National Foreign Trade Council, and the National Association of Manufacturers.

"This is practical legislation that, if enacted, will apply lessons learned in the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen America's health preparedness," says John Murphy, senior vice president for international policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.