We are in a moment of profound change around trade, onshoring, and supply chain resilience that is remaking the global economic and political order. These discussions are long overdue. However, as the United States reconsiders how it engages with the world, American policymakers must ensure that they do not inadvertently restrict access to affordable medicines or undermine trusted alliances that have long supported U.S. medicine security. 

In Washington, there is a growing belief that tariffs and non-tariff barriers would somehow spur more generic pharmaceutical manufacturing despite the economic realities of pharmaceutical manufacturing — including differences in labor costs, energy prices, and currency dynamics across countries. The U.S. sugar program is a cautionary tale of how policies that cannot address these issues only drive up costs for consumers while failing to achieve their stated goals.