Katherine Tai, a Biden-appointed U.S. trade representative, speaks on April 28, 2021.
A group of Republican U.S. senators on Thursday, May 20, urged the Biden administration to reverse its decision to give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) the intellectual property rights to the U.S.-developed medical technology and vaccine for the CCP virus (COVID-19), calling the decision “disastrous. The lawmakers fear that the decision will allow the Chinese Communist Party’s “vaccine diplomacy” to succeed.
The Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) exemptions, first proposed by India and South Africa, are reportedly intended to suspend the use of products and technologies needed to combat the Chinese Communist virus during the pandemic. The proposal was first made by India and South Africa to suspend intellectual property protection for products and technologies needed to combat the CCP virus during the pandemic, including the technology for the vaccine. The proposal has been controversial.
On May 5, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai (D-CA) issued a statement on behalf of the White House expressing support for the TRIPS exemption.
In response, Senators Roger Wicker, Tom Cotton and Thom Tillis sent a letter Thursday to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Dyche asking them to rescind the Biden administration’s decision to support the proposal. Thirteen other Republican senators also signed the letter.
The senators expressed their concerns about the controversial waiver, noting that it would do nothing to end the global pandemic and would instead “fuel uncoordinated vaccine nationalism.
In the strongly worded letter, the senators said the waiver would undermine “U.S. global leadership in future technologies, medicines, and treatments, and provide a boost to Communist China’s ‘vaccine diplomacy,’ enabling Beijing to undermine U.S. leadership in vaccine distribution throughout the developing world. “
They note that countries such as China, India and South Africa “falsely claim” that removing intellectual property protection will accelerate the ability to develop new vaccines, adding that a lack of technical capacity in the supply chain is the root cause of the current vaccine underdose. In reality, “vaccine production is a complex technical and logistical process, but requires limited technical resources (e.g., skilled scientists and technicians in companies).
In their letter, the senators wrote, “At best, President Biden’s gifts to China, India, and other countries will only fuel uncoordinated vaccine nationalism as countries attempt to coerce technology transfer and local production.”
The senators added, “But it is not surprising that the Chinese Communist Party, India and South Africa want to steal our intellectual property and medical technology.” “It is surprising that an American president, especially one who claims to be ‘jobs-focused,’ would force American companies to give their medical technology and manufacturing processes to foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party. Simply put, the Biden administration’s support for TRIPS exemptions puts U.S. interests last and Chinese Communist interests first.”
In his first speech to Congress in April, Biden also mentioned that he would specifically address intellectual property as one of the key issues for his administration in the U.S.-China relationship. He also vowed at the time to continue to “resist unfair trade practices that undermine American workers and American industries, such as Chinese Communist subsidies to state-owned enterprises and theft of American technology and intellectual property.”
A spokesman for the German government also stated that abandoning vaccine patents would lead to “serious complications” for the industry’s production, noting that manufacturers may not be as aggressive in producing vaccines in the future if there is no profit incentive for research and development.
The CEO of international vaccine maker Pfizer also said the company “completely disagrees” with the U.S. demand to relinquish vaccine property rights.
The senators asked the U.S. government to answer their concerns no later than June 19, 2021, including on what evidence the government relied to conclude that intellectual property rights are a barrier to vaccine manufacturing and that the benefits of relinquishing intellectual property protection outweigh the potential costs.
The senators also want to know whether Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping asked the White House for a waiver when he spoke with Biden in March, how the waiver would be implemented, and whether private citizens would be denied the ability to protect or enforce intellectual property rights in U.S. courts.
Other questions raised by lawmakers include whether the Biden administration plans to waive U.S. intellectual property laws and intellectual property enforcement, including enforcement against intellectual property and trade secret theft?
“In this case, what happens if a Chinese person is found to have stolen a trade secret? Would they not be prosecuted under the waiver, if adopted? And, what about Chinese nationals who are currently being prosecuted? Will those cases now be dismissed?” Senators want answers to all of these questions.
Rep. Earl Carter (D-Mass.) also voiced support for the letter Thursday. He tweeted, “The Biden Administration’s support for dropping intellectual property protection for the COVID-19 vaccine is a gift to the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP has spent the past year trying to steal our intellectual property, defy our patent system, and stifle the development of life-saving drugs and treatments with disinvestment.”
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