A U.S. initiative seeks to break America’s dependence on China for pharmaceuticals, particularly generic drugs, by moving manufacturing to more friendly Abraham Accord countries.
While there is across-the-board concern about the United States’ dependence on Chinese products, concern about the exposure of the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain to China spiked after the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.
Some estimates claim China controls as much as 80%-90% of the global supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), the products in a drug responsible for its therapeutic effects.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, former GOP congresswoman from the State of Washington, is helping advance the initiative as a senior fellow at the U.S. Israel Education Association (USIEA), an Alabama-based group educating senior government leaders to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Rodgers, who served 20 years in Congress, chairing the Energy and Commerce Committee and helping found the Abraham Accords Caucus, told Fox News Digital on Sept. 27 that America’s pharmaceutical supply chains have become dangerously vulnerable as “so many of them are controlled by China.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have spurred many pharmaceutical companies to return to the United States, Rodgers said, but with generics, “which are 92% of the prescriptions in our nation,” regulation and labor costs make their onshore manufacture extremely expensive.
On the other hand, the Abraham Accords countries, such as Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others, could play a critical role in supplying the United States, she said.
“It’s an idea whose time has come, I believe, and it would serve both the purpose of ensuring our national security and preventing our dependence on foreign adversarial nations like China for these supply chains,” Rodgers told Fox News Digital.
She called it “friend shoring.”
A top priority is to establish a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) office in the Mideast region, something that could be accomplished this year, she said.
Establishing purchase agreements with Medicare and Medicaid is also an important first step.
Noting that the Abraham Accords have been a great success on the government level, Rodgers said the pharmaceutical initiative would further strengthen ties between the signatories by building up their economic relationship—"This is the key, I believe, to help you bring peace and security in this region.”
“Israel is a leader in research and breakthroughs. And they have a lot of exciting companies. But these other countries also are investing in manufacturing. They want to diversify from what historically have been more energy, oil-dominated [economies]. So they’re investing a lot of money,” said Rodgers.
The Abraham Accords, signed between 2020 and 2021, include Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
