Chairman Rick Scott Proposes Crackdown on Chinese Drugs Made with Forced Labor

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Rick Scott sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Jamieson Greer proposing tariffs on generic pharmaceuticals and ingredients that are linked to Communist China's persecution of Uyghurs through forced labor.

The letter builds upon Chairman Rick Scott's longstanding efforts to secure America's drug supply chain and his leadership in condemning the Communist regimes' blatant human rights abuses and genocidal acts against the Uyghurs and other groups.

Chairman Rick Scott wrote, "Recent reports raise concerns about whether upstream suppliers serving the U.S. generic drug market may abuse Uyghur forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Among the entities receiving scrutiny is Sinopharm, the largest Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical conglomerate and an FDA-registered pharmaceutical importer that retains access to the U.S. market. Chinese pharmaceutical firms, including Sinopharm, supply upstream key starting materials to generic pharmaceutical manufacturers in India, including some of the largest producers of Medicaid-reimbursed prescriptions.^[1]"

BACKGROUND:

In October 2025, Chairman Rick Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand released an investigative report titled "Protecting Seniors' Access to Essential Medications: Securing the Foreign Generic Pharmaceutical Supply Chain." The report focused on America's dangerous overreliance on foreign-made generic drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients, which are largely imported from Communist China. Chairman Rick Scott has been a leading advocate for American drug supply chain transparency and reform.

The Consumer Labeling for Enhanced API Reporting and Legitimate Accountability for Base Entity Listings (CLEAR LABELS) Act, introduced by Chairman Rick Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand in January 2026, addresses these concerns by adding country of origin labeling requirements to the U.S.'s prescription drug supply chain.

SCOOP: Blaze Media: Exclusive: Sen. Rick Scott wants answers on the secret slavery that may be behind generic drugs

Read the full letter HERE or below:

Dear Ambassador Greer:

Thank you for your work to root out forced labor practices in our supply chains and meaningfully address the failures of foreign economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with such practices. As identified in the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) Section 301 June Investigative Report, forced labor practices are categorically unacceptable and create a dynamic in which American workers and manufacturers are undercut by non-viable competitive pricing reliant on the systemic exploitation of human beings. These anti-competitive practices constitute human rights abuses and pose severe threats to the viability of American industry. I applaud USTR's Section 301 findings and proposed actions to impose duties on foreign economies that fail to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.

As USTR continues to incorporate public comments on the best application of these proposed tariffs, I urge USTR to prioritize Section 301 duties on generic pharmaceuticals and their constituent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), intermediates, and key starting materials (KSMs) where imports benefit from forced labor or state-supported market distortions, including subsidies. Such duties would help counteract unfair trade practices, reduce strategic dependence on foreign supply chains, and support the development of a resilient domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing base.

Recent reports raise concerns about whether upstream suppliers serving the U.S. generic drug market may abuse Uyghur forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Among the entities receiving scrutiny is Sinopharm, the largest Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical conglomerate and an FDA-registered pharmaceutical importer that retains access to the U.S. market. Chinese pharmaceutical firms, including Sinopharm, supply upstream KSMs to generic pharmaceutical manufacturers in India, including some of the largest producers of Medicaid-reimbursed prescriptions.^[1] India is heavily reliant on Chinese entities for APIs, and multiple Chinese state-owned entities in the pharmaceutical sector have well-documented linkages to forced labor.^[2]

Efforts to address these concerns have included proposals to restrict taxpayer-funded reimbursement for medications whose upstream productions include forced labor practices. At the same time, other proposals to address the scourge of slavery in Xinjiang include significantly augmenting the number of entities on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. Although the UFLPA establishes a rebuttable presumption that goods produced in Xinjiang are made with forced labor, only one licensed pharmaceutical company in Xinjiang (out of 43)^[3] currently appears on the UFLPA Entity List. This narrower application of entity-level designations relative to the broader statutory presumption under the UFLPA has made the latest USTR announcement particularly significant.

USTR's Section 301 report on forced labor further underscores the prevalence of forced labor concerns in Chinese supply chains by referencing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement data. Pharmaceuticals, health products, and chemicals constitute the second-largest category of goods detained or otherwise denied entry under U.S. forced labor import restrictions. Since the UFLPA took effect in 2022, CBP has denied entry to over $19 million in shipments from this sector.^[4]

Therefore, I urge USTR to recommend the imposition of proposed Section 301 tariffs on generic pharmaceuticals from Communist China and any other country engaging in predatory forced labor practices, with the tariff level mirroring USTR's specified tariff category (i.e. 10%, 12.5%, etc.), and that the application of these tariffs be made concurrently with the application of tariffs on all other applicable goods from the designated country.

The proposed imposition of 10% and 12.5% tariff tiers in USTR's notice of determination provides a critical defense of American commerce. Given the scope of perpetuation of forced labor by the Chinese Communist Party, which is acknowledged by USTR and numerous other federal agencies and statutes, including the Department of Homeland Security's UFLPA Entity List, I encourage USTR to set another category of duties above the proposed 12.5% rate laid out in the Section 301 investigation's findings to apply to the most egregious participants in forced labor use. China's reputation as both a trade cheat and a human rights violator remains unparalleled in the global economy. From continued currency manipulation, to top-down industrial planning and subsidization, to its continued designation as a Priority Watch List country for intellectual property theft^[5], to its failure to abide by its commitments to the Phase One deal in 2020, to its colonialist-minded domination and abuse of impoverished low-income countries^[6], and through its proud endorsement and utilization of slave labor^[7], Communist China has routinely cheated its way to dominance in several key global supply chains - often by disregarding the intrinsic human dignity of individual market participants. Expanding this framework and establishing a third tariff tier will ensure varying degrees of foreign culpability are fully accounted for within our trade policy.

I applaud your efforts to support American industry and root out inhumane and unfair forced labor practices in supply chains that undermine the U.S. industrial base. I look forward to working with you, the Administration, and my colleagues in Congress to advance policies that secure pharmaceutical supply chains and support American manufacturers.

Sincerely,

Rick Scott

Chairman

U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

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