TAPP Responds to USTR “Request for Comments Regarding Foreign Nations Freeloading on American-Financed Innovation”

The Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity recently responded to the U.S. Trade Representative’s “Request for Comments Regarding Foreign Nations Freeloading on American-Financed Innovation,” which the USTR issued pursuant Executive Order 14297, titled Delivering Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients. TAPP took the opportunity to highlight the detrimental effects of implementing an MFN scheme.

In part, TAPP wrote:

In countries where price-setting policies like the MFN scheme are in place, patients literally die waiting for access to cures that are readily available in America. Take, for example, new cancer medications: In the United States, patients benefit from new innovations within a matter of a few months, compared to waiting several years in some other countries (see our infographic below)… Sacrificing future innovation to achieve some short-term financial savings would ultimately hurt patients. The concept of “paying it forward” could hardly be more compelling than in the case of discovering life-saving therapies and treatments for our most pressing healthcare challenges. Indeed, the selfishness implicit in injecting socialist price controls into the pharmaceutical market is astounding… [W]e encourage the administration to lead trade-centered solutions that hold our partners accountable without sacrificing U.S. access or innovation.

  • Set spending targets: Require high-income countries to meet minimum per-capita spending on innovative medicines tied to GDP per capita.

  • Negotiate reforms: Pursue country-specific commitments to eliminate discriminatory pricing practices, modernize outdated cost thresholds, and reduce reimbursement delays.

  • Enforce commitments: Use binding trade agreements with clear implementation timelines and bilateral consultation mechanisms to ensure compliance.

  • Demand parity: As part of new trade agreements, insist that other countries pay the same amount per capita of GDP as the United States does for innovative medicines so that we are no longer paying more per capita of GDP for innovative medicines.

Read the full letter here.

Ainsley Shea