Senate USTRx Act Builds Momentum Against Foreign Drug Price Controls

Congressional support is growing for legislation aimed at confronting foreign government drug price controls and reducing the burden they place on American patients and businesses. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) has introduced S. 5265, the “Use Sovereignty to Reduce Rx Act,” or “USTRx Act,” establishing a Senate companion to legislation introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas).

The Senate introduction marks an important step forward for the USTRx Act and follows an effort led by the Center for a Free Economy to rally conservative organizations behind the legislation. CFE recently organized a coalition of more than 40 taxpayer, free market, consumer, and public policy groups urging Congress to address foreign freeloading on American pharmaceutical innovation.

Momentum Builds for the USTRx Act

Sheehy introduced the Senate legislation with Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.). The bill has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

The USTRx Act would establish a Chief Pharmaceutical Trade Negotiator within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, creating a dedicated official responsible for addressing foreign government policies that undervalue American-developed medicines.

The legislation would direct USTR to identify pharmaceutical pricing practices in wealthy countries that harm U.S. interests and report its findings to Congress. It would give USTR a stronger framework for confronting foreign price controls and other policies that shift a disproportionate share of the cost of developing new medicines onto Americans.

CFE Helped Build Conservative Support

The Senate introduction comes as conservative support for the USTRx Act continues to expand.

CFE recently led a coalition of more than 40 organizations supporting the legislation. The coalition argued that foreign governments use price controls and other market-distorting policies to pay artificially low prices for innovative medicines, leaving American patients, employers, and taxpayers to shoulder more of the cost of pharmaceutical research and development.

The coalition called on Congress to strengthen USTR’s ability to identify these practices and respond through U.S. trade policy. With companion legislation now introduced in both chambers, lawmakers have a clear opportunity to advance that approach.

Treating Foreign Price Controls as a Trade Issue

The USTRx Act reflects a broader shift in how Washington approaches foreign drug price controls. Policies imposed by wealthy trading partners do not operate in isolation when they affect the value of medicines developed by American companies and sold around the world.

The Trump administration has already demonstrated how existing trade authorities can be used to challenge these practices. USTR opened a Section 301 investigation into Germany’s pharmaceutical pricing policies to determine whether they discriminate against or otherwise burden U.S. commerce.

The USTRx Act would build on that approach by giving pharmaceutical trade issues a permanent institutional focus within USTR. Rather than importing foreign price controls into the United States, policymakers would target the foreign government policies that allow wealthy countries to benefit from American innovation while paying less for it.

CFE Takeaway

The introduction of the USTRx Act in the Senate adds momentum to an effort that is gaining support in Congress and across the conservative movement. CFE helped build that support by bringing together more than 40 organizations behind the legislation, and the addition of a Senate companion creates another avenue for congressional action.

Congress should advance the USTRx Act and give U.S. trade officials stronger tools to confront foreign drug price controls. Wealthy trading partners should pay a fairer share for American pharmaceutical innovation rather than continuing to shift those costs onto American patients and businesses.