[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4780 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4780
To identify and take action against international trade practices of
high income countries that unfairly exploit innovation by deviating
from market-based policies and unfairly exploit United States
innovation, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 29, 2025
Mr. Arrington (for himself, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Fleischmann, Ms. Tenney,
and Mr. Murphy) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Ways and Means
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A BILL
To identify and take action against international trade practices of
high income countries that unfairly exploit innovation by deviating
from market-based policies and unfairly exploit United States
innovation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Use Sovereignty To reduce Rx Act''
or the ``USTRx Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Pharmaceutical price controls in foreign markets
distort global trade flows and competition by depressing the
prices of innovative drugs and exploiting pharmaceutical
innovations researched and developed in the United States.
(2) By setting prices at levels that are not market-based,
such price controls undervalue the discovery of new, innovative
treatments, diminish opportunities and incentives for global
innovation in new medicines, and threaten to restrict access to
new treatments and cures for United States patients and
consumers.
(3) Recognizing these dynamics, it is critical that the
United States use all available trade tools to address such
free-riding to ensure that foreign government regulatory
reimbursement regimes are transparent, provide procedural
fairness, are non-discriminatory, and provide full market
access to United States products.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) ensuring the security of innovative and affordable
healthcare is a top priority for Americans and for Congress;
(2) foreign government policies that mandate artificially
low drug prices in foreign markets undermine this priority by
reducing global incentives to invest in the development of new
medicines;
(3) such exploitative behavior unfairly shifts the cost of
developing new treatments to the United States and unduly
relies on America's patients and taxpayers to finance global
pharmaceutical innovation; and
(4) safeguarding access to life-saving treatments for
American patients requires combating such behavior so that
foreign countries pay their fair share of the costs associated
with the development of new drugs.
SEC. 3. CHIEF PHARMACEUTICAL TRADE NEGOTIATOR.
(a) Establishment.--Section 141(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. 2171(b)), is amended as follows:
(1) In paragraph (2)--
(A) in the first sentence, by inserting ``one Chief
Pharmaceutical Trade Negotiator,'' after ``one Chief
Agricultural Negotiator,''; and
(B) by inserting ``the Chief Pharmaceutical Trade
Negotiator,'' after ``the Chief Agricultural
Negotiator,'' each place it appears.
(2) By adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(7) The principal functions of the Chief Pharmaceutical
Trade Negotiator shall be to conduct trade negotiations,
enforce trade agreements relating to United States
pharmaceutical products, and take appropriate action to address
acts, policies, or practices of high-income countries that have
a significant adverse impact on the ability of United States
pharmaceutical manufacturers to enjoy full market access. The
Chief Pharmaceutical Trade Negotiator shall be a vigorous
advocate on behalf of United States manufacturers and consumers
of pharmaceutical products and shall perform such other
functions as the United States Trade Representative may direct.
In carrying out such duties, the Chief Pharmaceutical
Negotiator shall, as appropriate, consult or coordinate with
the Chief Intellectual Property Negotiator.''.
(b) Annual Report.--
(1) List of high-income countries.--The United States Trade
Representative shall compile and annually update a list of each
foreign country that is defined as ``high-income'' by the
official statistics of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development of the World Bank.
(2) Report required.--With respect to each country included
on the most recent list required under paragraph (1), the
United States Trade Representative, acting through the Chief
Pharmaceutical Trade Negotiator, (as established pursuant to
the amendments made by subsection (a)) shall annually submit to
the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Finance of the Senate and concurrently
publish on a publicly available website of the United States
Trade Representative a report that--
(A) describes in detail the results of a review of
the acts, policies, and practices of such country
relating to the trade in pharmaceutical products in the
previous fiscal year;
(B) determines whether such acts, policies, or
practices--
(i) are not developed and implemented in a
fair, nondiscriminatory, and transparent
manner;
(ii) are not market-based or do not
appropriately recognize the value of innovative
medicines;
(iii) deny reciprocal market access for
United States products;
(iv) diminish incentives for innovation in
a manner that delays, prevents, or otherwise
adversely impacts the introduction of new
medicines in the United States;
(v) violate or are inconsistent with the
provisions of, or otherwise deny benefits to
the United States under, any bilateral or
multilateral trade agreement with such country;
and
(vi) are unjustifiable or impose a
significant burden or unreasonable or
discriminatory restriction on United States
commerce with such country; and
(C) describes the current status of any responsive
actions taken by the United States with respect to
acts, policies, or practices for which the United
States Trade Representative has determined and included
in any prior report, pursuant to subparagraph (B), that
the interests of the United States are harmed,
including responsive actions pursuant to title III of
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.).
(c) Response to Adverse Actions.--Not later than 30 days after the
United States Trade Representative determines that an act, policy, or
practice of a country included in the applicable list required under
subsection (b)(1) meets any of the criteria described in subsection
(b)(2)(B), the United States Trade Representative shall submit to
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Finance of the Senate a plan to respond to such adverse
action, which may include initiating an investigation under chapter 1
title III of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.), in
accordance with section 302(b)(1) of such chapter.
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