Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) sounded the alarm on China making most of the pharmaceuticals used in the United States during a speech in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio.
“I happen to believe in this crazy thing that we ought to make more of our own stuff in this country, and I know President Trump agrees,” Vance said:
Think about this, do you know where 95 percent of the ibuprofen, advil … you know where it’s manufactured? China. You know where the gross majority of the antibiotics that we put into the bodies of our children come from? China. Now, I don’t know if you were alive the past five years but do you remember maybe why we shouldn’t trust the Chinese attitude toward public health? [Emphasis added]
Vance said the United States should not rely on China for even the most minuscule goods, let alone pharmaceuticals, calling again for an American manufacturing renaissance.
“I got to be honest with you, I don’t trust a damn plastic toy coming from China. I sure as hell don’t trust the drugs that we put into the bodies of our children,” Vance said. “Let’s make our own stuff, my friends.”
Indeed, research from the Coalition for a Prosperous America shows that U.S. pharmaceutical imports from China, India, and Mexico have skyrocketed over the last decade with 9 in 10 prescription drugs now coming from China or India.
As Vance mentioned, China makes about 95 percent of the ibuprofen, 91 percent of the hydrocortisone, 70 percent of the acetaminophen, and up to 45 percent of the penicillin used in the United States.
“For US pharmaceutical companies to profitably produce drugs and ingredients in competition with subsidized Chinese companies, policies would be needed to incentivize US companies to enter the market,” researchers from the Coalition for a Prosperous America noted in 2020.
“Policy options to consider include tariffs on any ingredients linked to a subsidized manufacturer or quotas on imports,” the researchers write. “Another option is for all federal or federally-supported purchasers to buy all drugs on a list of critical supplies only from domestic producers.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
