Two senators unveiled a bill June 22 that, if passed, would authorize the president to negotiate with trade organizations and ensure a stronger medical supply chain.
Delaware Sen. Tom Carper and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis introduced the Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act. The proposed legislation aims to grant the president the negotiation powers in trade agreements.
Those proposed negotiations could "eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers that weaken the U.S. medical goods manufacturing base and that of our allies," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in reaction to the bill.
The bill cites medical supply chain problems the U.S. experienced during the pandemic, including anti-infective COVID-19 treatments. Some of the bill's goals are "to increase access to government procurement markets for medical goods" and to "improve overall resilience" in the supply of medical devices and drugs, according to the introduced draft.