Sen. Rick Scott Asks Trump Admin to Secure U.S. Supply Chain and Address America’s Overreliance on Foreign Generic Drug Imports in 232 Investigation

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer thanking them for their tireless efforts working to fulfill President Trump's America First agenda and protect Americans, and urging them to build on these efforts by taking decisive action with a Section 232 investigation into U.S. dependence on imported pharmaceuticals. In his letter, Senator Scott notes the vulnerabilities and national security concerns of America's overreliance on adversaries like Communist China, which supplies upwards of 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients in generics, and emphasizes the need for domestic production to ensure Americans' access to safe, reliable medicines.

Senator Scott has been sounding the alarm on America's dangerous overreliance on foreign-manufactured generic drugs and how it jeopardizes both our national security and public health with a recent hearing of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Martin Makary on the FDA's oversight of foreign drug manufacturing and importation.

Read the full letter HERE or below:

Dear Secretary Lutnick and Ambassador Greer:

Thank you both for your leadership in advancing President Trump's America First agenda and protecting Americans from foreign adversarial threats. I am proud to work with you and the entire administration to advance these shared goals.

In pursuit of this goal, I urge you to take decisive action in the Section 232 investigation into U.S. dependence on imported pharmaceuticals.

For years, I expressed concerns about the vulnerability of the United States' pharmaceutical supply chains and its overreliance on adversaries, like Communist China, and I have been examining this overreliance on foreign-manufactured generic drugs and the risks it poses to our national security in my role as chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Generics make up 90% of prescriptions filled in the United States, yet 70-80% of these generics use active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from Communist China and India. Considering the U.S. depends on overseas manufacturers for about 75% of its essential drug supply and that approximately 83% of the top 100 generic drugs consumed by U.S. citizens have no U.S.-based source of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, it is clear our supply chain is dangerously exposed.

Cancer drug shortages, heparin supply disruptions, and instability in antibiotics and injectables demonstrate the risks this overreliance poses to the American people. A recent study analyzing more than 2,400 generic drugs sold in the U.S. found that foreign generics "were associated with a 54% greater risk of serious adverse events - including hospitalization, disability, and death - compared with equivalent domestically made medicines." We have the capability, demand, and a clear market for domestically produced generics - with 85% of hospital pharmacists willing to pay more for domestic, generic drugs.

We've also seen China place export restrictions on rare earth elements over trade negotiations before, and there's no reason they can't do the same for pharmaceuticals. The integrity of our supply chain requires reducing exposure to strategic vulnerabilities, and generic medicines from China and India present a clear vulnerability for any American who steps foot into a pharmacy.

To address this ongoing threat, I respectfully request the immediate application of Section 232 tariffs on foreign generic medicines (including active pharmaceutical ingredients and key starting materials), or at a minimum, a public commitment to a phased-in tariff regime that places generics on the same tariff footing as other imported pharmaceuticals within 12 months.

I sincerely appreciate your outstanding leadership and stand ready to work with you and my colleagues in support of a secure national medicine supply. To protect Americans' health and safety, it is critical that we take action to ensure they can buy quality, generic drugs.

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