At yesterday's House Ways and Means committee hearing on the Biden administration's trade policy agenda, Congressman Nunes and U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai had the following exchange on the TRIPS waiver and vaccine production:
Congressman Nunes:
.. I want to turn to this agreement on TRIPS that many people have talked about, the trade related aspects of intellectual property rights. It would force the American developers of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics to relinquish their intellectual property rights to these medicines and essentially show foreign nations how to produce these drugs themselves. Now, I understand your point about, we really want these vaccines to get out, but at the same time this is American technology that we spent billions of dollars developing. And one of the concerns I have is, really the only country that could quickly make these types of vaccines, that could implement this, would be China. I know that India and others are saying that, but it really seems like they want to steal this very new technology, especially as it relates to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. So did you conduct any analysis on this front, of what would happen, who could actually make these vaccines?
Ambassador Tai:
Thank you, Congressman Nunes. Yes, this decision was made after a lot of deliberation. And we have adopted, what I think is an unusual practice, at least for USTR, starting in mid-April I began consultations with interested parties, labor organizations, civil society, public health advocates, public health experts, both inside and outside of the government, and also the manufacturers themselves.
We take policymaking extremely seriously, and so my short answer to you is, yes, we are thinking through, we have really dug into the policy implications. And let me say this, in terms of our announcement of support for waiving intellectual property rights at the WTO, support for the goals of the proponents at the WTO, what we are committing to is starting a process at the WTO, to find a solution at the WTO that is going to have to, through these negotiations, take into account, concerns from all sides, so that we can have something that is effective and practical in saving lives.
Congressman Nunes:
So, we're obviously, we're very proud that, another one of our staff longtime staff, Ms. Ellard, is going to be going to the WTO, but WTO has really been a beacon of of light and freedom. They've had tremendous issues, as you're well aware, and I know we're always trying to work and fix and make the WTO function better, but you did mention the manufacturers, and that to me is the is the key here, manufacturers who develop this, who developed these vaccines, they're US companies. And just to turn over that intellectual property to these other nations, especially China who we still don't have a full understanding of the origins of this virus at this time and what their involvement was. Do you know, I mean, when you met with the US manufacturers, did they explain to you, express to you, their concern about China being able to utilize this and be the only one that could really make the vaccine?
Ambassador Tai:
Well, I want to be a little bit circumspect about exactly what the manufacturers told me and how they told me, but let me offer you a couple observations and insights from my conversations with the individual manufacturers and also with their trade associations, which is that the manufacturers, there are quite a number of them. They're not a monolithic group. They're, actually, their technologies are different, their leadership personalities are different, and their corporate philosophies are actually quite different as well. And some of these manufacturers do think of themselves, not just as businesses with obligations to shareholders, some of them do see themselves as important actors in the public health ecosystem in the world.
Congressman Nunes:
So let me just get to a specific question, so how long would it take a country to build the facilities that it would take to produce these vaccines, did you look at that?
Ambassador Tai:
Sure, yes.
Congressman Nunes:
So, how long would it take them to build them.
Ambassador Tai:
Well, let me put it this way, in order to for you to have access to the best information, I am probably not the best source for the answers that you're looking for. But let me just assure you, yes, we are looking at the full picture, we are looking at the IP piece in the WTO, but also in the context of how this and other actions will work together to translate into increased manufacturing, more equitable distribution.
Over the last two days of Senate/House hearings on the Biden administration's trade policy agenda, there has been a lot of talk about the TRIPS waiver, with many of the comments from members of Congress essentially being "waiver good" or "waiver bad." The Nunes questions at least got closer to some of the underlying issues. I'm not sure how Ambassador Tai could answer many of them, though. Even if she knew the answer, this wasn't necessarily a forum where she could or should tell everyone what her strategy is. The last question is particularly important, and I assume someone in the Biden administration has a sense of this, and that we will hear some details at some point.
The China issue seems like a red herring to me, if this all goes the way it should. If we end up with a blanket waiver of certain patents under various countries' domestic law, then yes, China and Russia and others would have access to the technology. But if, instead, the pharmaceutical companies agree to license the technology to specific companies/factories, which is the sensible direction to go here, that shouldn't be an issue.
As a final point, her characterization of the differences between the pharmaceutical companies was interesting. Kind of feels like it was sending a message.
