In Regards to Drugs…

The Food and Drug Administration estimates that “at least 80 percent of the active ingredients found in all of America’s medicine come from abroad– primarily China.” (Llenas) Furthermore, all our penicillin and most of our generic antibiotics come from China. (Gibson) China’s goal is to become the world’s leader in generic drugs and generics currently comprise 90% of our prescription drugs. (Llenas) Additionally, 70% of leading brand-name drugs are produced outside the U.S., including in Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere. (Pharmacy Checker) 

Given our current trade and other geo-political issues with China, it is ludicrous that we are dependent on China for most of our medicines. In November 2024 the U.S. – China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended that Congress consider legislation to “support significant Federal government investment in biotechnology in the United States…” (Report) A bill has been introduced by Senator Cotton in April of 2025 to end dependence on China for our drugs and encourage pharmaceutical production in the U.S. (Cotton)

 It is well known that much of U.S. manufacturing has gone offshore, lost to other countries that can produce products cheaper primarily due to paying lower wages. However, entrusting our drug making to others becomes a threat to our national security. 

Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Singh in their book China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine expose how the U.S. is dependent on China for many of our vitamins, prescription drugs, and over-the-counter products. The authors also discuss the issues of Chinese price manipulation, marketing contaminated drugs, lack of quality control, improper labeling, and resistance to manufacturing plant inspections by our FDA. (Levy)

An example of contaminated drugs from China was the importation of heparin in 2007-2008. Heparin is an important drug thinner used in operating rooms and dialysis centers. As many as 250 Americans died from the contaminated heparin produced in China. (Hains) More recently, the FDA had 50 recalls of a blood pressure medicine because the active ingredient, valsartan, was contaminated. (McCaughey) 

The FDA conducts inspections of drug manufacturing plants in the U.S. and worldwide. These facilities are expected to follow FDA standards. However, we have only 29 FDA agents in China to inspect over 3,000 drug manufacturing plants. (McCaughey) These limited inspections cannot guarantee drug quality.   

According to Gibson few countries can compete with China’s prices due to the low wages of their workers and the subsidization of their drug industry. Our government needs to invest in domestic manufacturing to provide essential generic drugs for the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense, our strategic stockpile, and our general population. With new manufacturing technology American companies can compete with Chinese prices. (Kraychik)

How did we get into this predicament? In the year 2000 China received free trade status from the U.S.  Within a few years the last penicillin fermentation plants closed in the U.S., India, and Europe due to China flooding the market with cheap penicillin. Before long, penicillin prices increased. (Editor) India is still the world’s leader in generic drugs, but as much as 80% of the active ingredients are sourced in China. (llenas)

In terms of our national health, it is intolerable that the U.S. is reliant on a foreign country for most of our drugs. There is no reason that modern American manufacturing technologies cannot compete with China. It is essential that we end, or at least limit, our dependence on China for our drugs.

Bibliography

Chand, Nandika. International Business Times. “China Threatens to Restrict Drug Exports to US Amid Coronavirus Pandemic.” 03/18/20. Retrieved May 10, 2022. www.ibtimes.com/china-threatens-restrict-drug…

Cotton, Tom. “Cotton Introduces Bill to End U.S. Dependence on Chinese Manufacturing Pharmaceuticals.” April 10, 2025. www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-release/cotton…

Editor. Rosemary Gibson on America’s Dependence on China for Medicine. Filed in News August 27, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2020. www.corportecrimereporter.com/news/200/rosemary-gibson-americas-dependence…

Gibson, Rosemary. U.S. dependence on China for medicine is a major problem. July 21, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020. https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/u-s-dependence-on-china-for-medicine-is-a-major…

Hains, Tim. Author Rosemary Gibson: U.S. Is Now Dependent On China For… Posted April 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2020.   www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/04/23/author_rosemary_gibson_us_is…

Kraychik, Robert.  Rosemary Gibson: Congress is Ignoring U.S. Dependence on…  3 March 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020. www.breitbart.com/radio/2020/03/03/rosemary-gibson-congress-ignoring-u-s…

Llenas, Bryan.  America too dependent on China for its medicine, experts warn. May 30, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2010. https://www.foxnews.com/us/america-dependent-china-medicines

Levy, Janet.  Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China Medcine. January 9, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2020. www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/01/exposing_the_risks_of_americas_

McCaughey, Betsy. The hidden perils of drugs imported from China. September 3, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020. nypost.com/2019/09/03/the-hidden-perils-of-drugs-imported-from-china.

PharmacyChecker. 70% of Popular Brand Name Drugs Sold in U.S. Pharmacies…August 3, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2020. www.pharmacychecker.com/news/70-percent-of-brand-name-drugs-are-imported-cost…

Report to Congress, “U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission, The Commission’s 2024 Key Recommendations.” November 2024. www.uscc.gov.

In Regards to Rare Earth Elements…

Rare Earth Elements are a group of 17 elements (metals) listed on the periodic table. They include the 15 lanthanides (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gandolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, & lutetium). Also included are yttrium and scandium, which are not lanthanides. (King) That is a mouthful and there is no reason to remember them as anything but rare earth elements or REE’S. What is important is that they are vital to our economy and our national security, and we get nearly all of them from China!

REE’s are not as rare as their name implies, but they are difficult to mine economically due to their low concentrations in the earth’s crust. China became the dominant producer in the 1990’s and is able to maintain this position because other countries could not compete with their low prices. Today, the U.S. has only one active REE mine (the Mountain Pass mine in Nevada) with Australia, India, Russia and a few other countries also producing limited amounts of REE’s. (King) The REE’s that are mined by these countries are shipped to China for refining. However, the Mountain Pass mine in Nevada, owned by MP Materials, will soon be processing their REE’s on-site. (Sixberry) China currently produces 97% of the world’s supply of REE’s. (American)

Why are REE’s so important to our economy and our national security? Various rare earth elements are used in a large number of our military systems and weapons, including “jet engine coatings, night vision goggles, precision- guided weapons, communications equipment, laser finders, satellites…” (Blodgett) While most of these require small amounts of REE’s, some require significantly larger amounts. For example, our Virginia-class nuclear submarines use 9,200 pounds of REEs.  (Blodgett) 

Rare earth elements are also used in computer memory chips, DVDs, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, catalytic converters, magnets, fluorescent lights, and more. (King) New technologies are likely to increase the demand for REE’s.

The higher cost of buying refined REE’s from China, and our dependence on one source for acquiring them, should motivate American businesses and our defense sector to look seriously at this issue and develop practical solutions. Either we find alternatives to the use of rare earth elements or we get back into the business of mining and processing them ourselves. Senators Cotton and Kelly introduced the “Restoring Essential Energy and Security Holdings Onshore for Rare Earths” Act. (King & Spalding)

Recently, President Trump has expressed an interest in acquiring Ukraine’s rare earths and critical minerals as a condition for our financial and military support. (Reuters) China is currently restricting the shipment of rare earths to the U.S. pending the trade and tariff disputes.

Bibliography

American Geosciences Institute sourced from U.S. Geological Survey news release “Going Critical.” What are rare earth elements, and why are they important…” Retrieved March 25, 2020. www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/what-are-rare-earth-elements…

Blodgett, Dr. Brian. Faculty Member, Homeland Security, American Military University. Why the U.S. Needs Rare-Earth Elements for Homeland Security. June 4, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2020. Inhomelandsecurity.com/rare-earth-elements-homeland-security.

Flatley, Daniel. Ted Cruz Seeks to end U.S. Dependence on China for Rare Earth Elements. 5/12/2020. Retrieved 6-29-20. www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/ted-cruz-seeks-to…

King  & Spalding. “Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to End Dependence on Chinese Rare Earth Elements.” January 25, 2022. Retrived May 10, 2022. www.kslaw.com/news-and-insifhts/senators…

King, Hobart M. REE- Rare Earth Elements- Metals, Minerals, Mining, Uses. Retrieved March 24, 2020. Geology.com/articles/rare-elements.

Money Watch. CBS News. “As trade war heats up, china threatens clampdown on ‘rare earths’.” Updated May 29, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2022. www.cbsnews.com/news/rare-earths-china-us-trtade…

Reuters.” What are Ukraine’s rare earths and why does Trump want them?” February 12, 2025. www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/what-are…

Sixberry, Rick.  Rick is a long-time veteran in the mining industry. Interviewed on May 1, 2020.

Final Thoughts about Our Dependence on China for Our Drugs and Rare Earth Elements  

My goal is to stay as unbiased as possible, stick with the facts, and offer few opinions. However, we should be embarrassed and incensed about the U.S. being dependent on another country (let alone by one who is an unfair trading partner) for our drugs and rare earth elements. Moreover, China has threatened to restrict our imports of these products considering the current trade disputes. (Chand) (Money Watch) There are at least three non-military industries that are vital to our national security and economy—medical (including safe drug production), agricultural (including safe food production) and energy & raw materials (including the production of rare earth elements).

Somehow our government and business leaders failed us in two of those three vital areas. Our priority is to be as self-sufficient as possible. If that is not possible, we should make reasonable trade agreements with other countries while never becoming dependent on any one country to meet our needs. It is time that we reinvigorate our government and business leaders to devise solutions to our dependency on China for our drugs and rare earth elements.

Ron Ohlhausen

March, 2020

Updated May, 2025