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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has signaled Ireland when he promised to bring global pharmaceutical production to the United States.
Speaking in a Fox News “town hall” interview on Sunday night in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Trump was asked about what kind of financial incentive he would offer to American drug companies to make sure the United States is no longer dependent from China for supplies
“It is not just China, you take a look at Ireland. They make our drugs. Everyone makes our drugs except us,” he said. “We are taking back the entire supply chain. No one has to tell me to do it, I have been talking about it for years.”
Noting that at least 94 percent of the United States’ drugs were manufactured abroad, he said he hoped to return them to the United States within two years. “We are in America first,” he said.
Trump said he had spoken to pharmaceutical companies and argued that production could be done for the same price in the United States, and that the companies would not have the transportation costs they have now. He noted that one of the reasons he was elected in 2016 was because of his “America First” policy.
The coronavirus pandemic has focused on the United States’ dependence on global supply chains for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, with China in particular in the spotlight. However, Trump has also highlighted Ireland’s role as a major producer of pharmaceuticals that are then shipped to the US. USA
In March he said he was looking for alternative means of production, verifying his name in Ireland.
“Ireland works a lot for us, you know that in that world, in the pharmaceutical world. A very tremendous producer, and we are looking to bring much more back home, “he said in mid-March, when the scope of the coronavirus pandemic began to become clear.
“I have been talking about this for many years … long before I decided to run for president … we have to be able to take care of our country.”
Investigation
Ireland is a major exporter of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to the United States. Several of the major US pharmaceutical companies. The US, including Bristol Myers Squib, Pfizer and Merck, has large research and development and manufacturing facilities in Ireland, dating back decades.
Ireland exported € 49.7 billion worth of medical and pharmaceutical products last year, with around € 21.2 billion going to the United States.
Irish and American officials have been working to ensure the continued flow of pharmaceuticals from Ireland to the United States through cargo flights since the pandemic.
In particular, Ireland’s goods trade surplus with the United States, part of a broader trade imbalance between the EU and the United States, has been a topic of interest to the Trump administration.
Trump also attacked China during the two-hour event, saying the United States had been “losing $ 500 billion (€ 459 billion) a year to China for years” before being president.
The pandemic has intensified tensions between Washington and Beijing, and the Trump administration blamed China for the outbreak of the virus that emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Funding Suspended
Trump also suspended funding for the World Health Organization (WHO), which he said was too “China-focused.”
While declining to decide whether to apply new tariffs to China in response to the coronavirus, Trump said he would make sure China has increased its purchase of American agricultural products as agreed in the phase one trade agreement between the two countries.
When asked if he believed China had misled the world community about the coronavirus, he said, “I don’t think there is any question about it,” adding that China had tried to blame Europe.
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