Thread by @sdonnan

How dependent is the US on China for medical products and pharmaceuticals? Maybe less than you would think based on the current discourse...

This report from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service is fascinating:

crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/…

The share with some PPE and Covid-19 related materials is different, of course.

And remember that is all just share of US IMPORTS. That doesn't get at domestic production etc. The US is a significant exporter of medical equipment.

This is from a WTO report:

Coming into this crisis China was a big producer/exporter of personal protective equipment. But so were the US and Germany...

Again, from the WTO:

The WTO doesn't chart it. But it also has the numbers on those face masks.

Full report here: wto.org/english/news_e…

There is an oft-cited figure out there that the US depends on China for 80% of its medicines. That’s been debunked by others. But a lot of US imports of some key pharmaceuticals do come from China.

From CRS report (rh cols are value and % of US imports)

This is the best thing I’ve found on domestic production versus imports in US. I suspect this has changed somewhat in past decade. But I can’t find anything more recent.

bls.gov/ppi/pharmprice…