December 11, 2019

In what could be the policy hallmark of his first term in office, President Trump has honored his promise to voters and renegotiated the outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the form of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Despite being signed by all three countries in November of 2018 and enjoying bipartisan support in Congress, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has stalled official ratification of the agreement for over a year.

In what can only be described as a hand out to socialist neighbors like Canada, she is considering stripping out what makes this trade agreement so strong, critical intellectual property (IP) protections on a new form of medicine called biologics. The current deal includes ten years of protection of American IP overseas, but, of course, Canada and Mexico would love to see that significantly lowered so they can reap the benefits of American innovation without paying for it.

These are the same leaders who openly mock our President on the world stage and have shown no regard for US interests, consumers, or innovation.

This foreign freeloading needs to stop. American workers and businesses poured billions of dollars and thousands of hours into creating these medicines, and their property needs to be protected.

Make no mistake, the fact that President Trump’s trade deal has not been ratified has no roots in policy. It is a partisan political effort by Democrats to tarnish the President’s record on the backs of American researchers and workers.

The Administration must push for these IP protections to remain in place, and not cede a win to socialists. The alternative is lost jobs, less medical investment, fewer cures, and being taken advantage of by the rest of the world.