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HOW CHINA SUPPLIES YOUR MEDS…

The Trump tariff plan, designed to bring back manufacturing, extends past the money issue — it’s a safety concern too.

Earlier today, on the DML Health Newsletter, I wrote about cholesterol medicines and questioned if they are a scam, or life saving medications. A reader sent me a question, “Can you explain how China has a stronghold on our medications?”  

It’s not a stronghold. It’s a chokehold.
It amazes me when I hear people complain about Trump’s tariffs because the stock market dipped for a week. If these same people knew what China is capable of doing to us, they’d be championing for manufacturing to return to the U.S.

China’s chokehold on America’s pharmaceutical and medical supply chain is a crisis decades in the making, and it’s time we confront the hard truth: our reliance on a geopolitical adversary for life-saving drugs and equipment is a national security disaster waiting to happen. Trump knows this — he knows the numbers are staggering, the risks are existential, and the complacency of the American people is maddening.

China supplies roughly 80% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in U.S. drugs, including generics that account for 90% of prescriptions filled in this country. These aren’t just obscure compounds—they’re the building blocks for critical medications like ibuprofen (95% of U.S. imports), acetaminophen (70%), penicillin (40-45%), and heparin (40%). Antibiotics, the backbone of modern medicine, are particularly vulnerable: 80% of our supply originates in China. Over-the-counter staples like aspirin and antihistamines? Largely Chinese-made. Prescription drugs for hypertension, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and depression? Same story. Medical devices aren’t spared either—China is the largest exporter of equipment like surgical masks, respirators, and diagnostic tools to the U.S.

This dependency isn’t new. 
It started in the 1990s when U.S. companies, chasing cheaper production costs and looser regulations, began outsourcing to China and India. The Clinton administration’s push for globalization and trade liberalization, including China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, accelerated the shift. By 2004, the last U.S. penicillin plant closed. Big Pharma and policymakers sold this as efficiency—lower costs, higher profits. But they traded resilience for vulnerability. Today, China’s 4,300 API and generic drug manufacturers dominate the global market, producing over 90% of the world’s generics by volume.

What happens if China cuts us off? 
The answer is catastrophic. Rosemary Gibson, author of China Rx, testified that if China halted exports of medicines and APIs, U.S. hospitals and military clinics would collapse within months, if not days. Imagine ICUs without antibiotics, ERs rationing painkillers, or veterans’ hospitals unable to treat chronic conditions. A 2020 University of Chicago study found one-third of hospitals already ration drugs during shortages, often resorting to less effective substitutes. If China weaponized its control—say, by embargoing APIs or spiking drugs with contaminants—the death toll could rival a pandemic. Even without malice, disruptions like factory closures during COVID-19 slashed U.S. imports of PPE and drugs by up to 31% in early 2020, exposing our fragility.

The risks go beyond supply. 
Quality control is abysmal. In 2018, Chinese-made valsartan, a blood pressure drug, was recalled after containing cancer-causing impurities 200 times above safe limits. The FDA, stretched thin, can’t inspect China’s plants adequately—unlike U.S. facilities, which face unannounced checks, Chinese plants get weeks of notice. Counterfeit drugs are another threat; China remains the world’s leading source, with fake anti-malarials seized in Nigeria in 2009 traced back to Chinese manufacturers.

Consumers need to know: every pill you swallow, every syringe in your hospital, is likely tied to a supply chain we don’t control. China’s “Made in China 2025” plan aims to dominate biomedicine, and they’re not shy about it. They’ve already used economic coercion, like limiting rare earth mineral exports, as leverage. Pharmaceuticals could be next. A 2023 Atlantic Council report noted U.S. imports of Chinese pharmaceuticals surged 485% from $2.1 billion in 2020 to $10.3 billion in 2022. We’re not just dependent—we’re increasingly so.

My take? 
This is a betrayal of the American public. We need to rebuild domestic manufacturing, fast. Empty U.S. plants could be retrofitted to produce APIs at 40% lower costs with modern tech, but it requires public investment and political will. Congress must mandate transparency—drug labels should list API origins. Tariffs on Chinese imports are a start, but exemptions for critical drugs only deepen reliance. We’re playing roulette with our health, and the stakes are too high to keep betting on China’s goodwill. Wake up, America—before the pharmacy shelves go empty. We need to take action now, while Trump is in office. But once Super Trump flies away in 2028, we could be left victims for the long run.

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Have a great rest of your day.
Your Friend,
DML

_{DISCLAIMERS: This newsletter is for fun purposes only. I share my opinions. And I am not a doctor or a stock professional, so contact your doctor and financial planner for advice on that kind of stuff. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe button below. Links provided may result in you visiting a website that generates income for TeamDML Inc. My wife thanks you for reading my newsletter, writing it keeps me out of her way. Copyright 2025 TeamDML Inc.}