Trump's drug EO focuses on America, first

President Trump’s “Buy American” credo now officially extends to the drug industry: He signed an executive order mandating that the federal government only purchase certain drugs and medical supplies from American factories. This is particularly profound because no one really knows how much of the American drug supply chain is produced abroad, STAT’s Nicholas Florko writes — but some experts say that up to 90% of critical generic drugs are made, at least in part, abroad.

We still don’t know which drugs the executive order will cover. That decision has been handed over to the FDA. What we do know is that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed America’s dependence on India and China for many important medications — and there’s a bipartisan effort in Congress to retool America’s drug supply chain.

“If we learned anything from the [coronavirus] pandemic, it is simply that we are dangerously overdependent on foreign nations for our essential medicines, for medical supplies — like masks, gloves, goggles and the like — and medical equipment, like ventilators,” White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said.