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# Report on Ways to Cut Reliance on Foreign Drugs
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/report-on-ways-to-cut-reliance-on-foreign-drugs/
- Published: 2025-10-22T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T15:24:45.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5160086

The Senate Special Committee on Aging has released a report, “Protecting Seniors’ Access to Essential Medications: Securing the Foreign Generic Pharmaceutical Supply Chain,” focused on what it calls America’s dangerous overreliance on foreign-made generic drugs, which are largely imported from China and India. A committee [statement](https://www.aging.senate.gov/press-releases/chairman-rick-scott-ranking-member-kirsten-gillibrand-release-investigative-report-exposing-americas-dangerous-overreliance-on-foreign-made-generic-drugs-proposing-bipartisan-policy-recommendations?ref=fdaweb.com) (includes a link to the full report) says the report’s highlights are:

- in 2024, the U.S. manufactured 37% of its consumer pharmaceuticals, down from 83% in 2002;
- China accounts for 95% of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 70% of U.S. imports of acetaminophen, and up to 45% of U.S. imports of penicillin;
- some 90% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for global antibiotics are of Chinese origin, and 83% of the top 100 generic drugs consumed by U.S. citizens have no U.S.-based source of APIs;
- while India supplies about half of all generic drugs used in the U.S., Indian manufacturers rely on China for about 60% of the APIs they use; and
- according to a 2025 study, the occurrence of serious adverse events (hospitalizations, disabilities, and death) for generic drugs manufactured in India was 54% higher than for equivalent drugs that were manufactured in the U.S.

The committee report makes these recommendations:

- establish a federal buyer’s market for essential medicines, prioritizing American-made products first, and prioritizing near- and friend-shoring if American-made products are not available;
- map our generic drug supply chains;
- require companies to disclose the country of origin for finished pharmaceuticals;
- utilize trade levers like the administration’s Trade Expansion Act of 1962 Section 232 investigation authority, under which the **Department of Commerce** can investigate whether **imports of certain goods threaten to impair national security**;
- pass clarifying language to close loopholes that allow foreign-made products to be categorized as ‘Made in America’; and
- support U.S. biotechnology.