The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) benefits American manufactures as well as the overall economy. Please join our letter thanking the Administration for their work on this historic trade deal. Click here to read the full text of the letter follows, and you can add your organization by filling out the form.

On behalf of Michigan Bio, Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute (THBI) and the below signatories, we commend you and the Trump Administration on the recent United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). We are encouraged by the progress made toward establishing vital intellectual property (IP) protections. These new standards will drive investment, innovation, exports, and job creation for U.S. innovators – the lifeblood of America’s economy.

This agreement raises standards for trade policy, particularly in the life sciences sector, and sets high minimum standards and expectations for our trading partners to value American innovation.

The biopharmaceutical industry is a key to America’s economic growth, and in 2015 alone, generated 77.4 billion dollars in revenue for the United States. The industry also provides more than $85 billion dollars in opportunities for local company vendors and suppliers.

In the United States, there is a critical, and productive relationship between early stage researchers, private drug developers, and manufacturers that requires risky investment, collaboration, and innovation. The USMCA builds on America’s leadership in medical innovation, and will encourage more collaboration and productivity for future cures. The biopharmaceutical industry is the single largest funder of research and development.

Innovation is the key to finding cures for some of the most devastating diseases patients face. Successful implementation of the USMCA will allow drug manufacturers to continue investing in research and development to find cures. There are more than 900 biologic medicines being developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses that have no current treatment options.

Aside from encouraging innovation, the agreement is also a valuable step that will help further stimulate the economy and create more American jobs. In 2015, the biopharmaceutical industry supported nearly 5 million total jobs, employing Americans across the country in a variety of industry subsectors. In fact, the biopharmaceutical industry employs more manufacturing R&D workers (at over 1,000 plants around the U.S.) than other industries (13 percent), followed by semiconductors (11 percent), and autos (10 percent).

And, in 2017, the total value of goods and services supported by the biopharmaceutical sector totaled 1.3 trillion dollars, with more than 50 billion dollars in exports. The USMCA will lead to continued success in this space, and enable the sector to grow and develop more products for patients. This will increase competitiveness and more options for patients and payers in the future.

We applaud your support of intellectual property rights and for negotiating a trade deal that will promote innovation and spur economic growth. The USMCA is an important milestone, as it demonstrates the Administration’s dedication to making sure the United States remains the world’s leader in pharmaceutical and scientific progress – and works to level the playing field with our trading partners. This agreement will create jobs and contribute to manufacturers’ valuable research and development initiatives to develop medicines that save lives and improve the health of patients in America and around the world.

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