[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5265 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5265
To identify and take action against international trade practices of
high income countries that unfairly exploit innovation by deviating
from market-based policies and unfairly exploit United States
innovation, and for other purposes.
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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 5, 2026
Mr. Sheehy (for himself, Mr. McCormick, and Mr. Budd) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
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A BILL
To identify and take action against international trade practices of
high income countries that unfairly exploit innovation by deviating
from market-based policies and unfairly exploit United States
innovation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Use Sovereignty To reduce Rx Act''
or the ``USTRx Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Pharmaceutical price controls in foreign markets
distort global trade flows and competition by depressing the
prices of innovative drugs and exploiting pharmaceutical
innovations researched and developed in the United States.
(2) By setting prices at levels that are not market-based,
such price controls undervalue the discovery of new, innovative
treatments, diminish opportunities and incentives for global
innovation in new medicines, and threaten to restrict access to
new treatments and cures for United States patients and
consumers.
(3) Recognizing those dynamics, it is critical that the
United States use all available trade tools to address such
free-riding to ensure that foreign government regulatory
reimbursement regimes are transparent, provide procedural
fairness, are non-discriminatory, and provide full market
access to United States products.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) ensuring the security of innovative and affordable
healthcare is a top priority for the people of the United
States and for Congress;
(2) foreign government policies that mandate artificially
low drug prices in foreign markets undermine that priority by
reducing global incentives to invest in the development of new
medicines;
(3) such exploitative behavior unfairly shifts the cost of
developing new treatments to the United States and unduly
relies on United States patients and taxpayers to finance
global pharmaceutical innovation; and
(4) safeguarding access to life-saving treatments for
United States patients requires combating such behavior so that
foreign countries pay their fair share of the costs associated
with the development of new drugs.
SEC. 3. CHIEF PHARMACEUTICAL TRADE NEGOTIATOR.
Section 141 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(2)--
(A) in the first sentence, by inserting ``one Chief
Pharmaceutical Trade Negotiator,'' after ``one Chief
Agricultural Negotiator,''; and
(B) by inserting ``the Chief Pharmaceutical Trade
Negotiator,'' after ``the Chief Agricultural
Negotiator,'' each place it appears; and
(2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(7) The principal functions of the Chief Pharmaceutical Trade
Negotiator shall be to conduct trade negotiations, enforce trade
agreements relating to United States pharmaceutical products, and take
appropriate action to address acts, policies, or practices of high-
income countries that have a significant adverse impact on the ability
of United States pharmaceutical manufacturers to enjoy full market
access. The Chief Pharmaceutical Trade Negotiator shall be a vigorous
advocate on behalf of United States manufacturers and consumers of
pharmaceutical products and shall perform such other functions as the
United States Trade Representative may direct. In carrying out such
duties, the Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator shall, as appropriate,
consult or coordinate with the Chief Intellectual Property
Negotiator.''.
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON ACTS, POLICIES, AND PRACTICES OF HIGH INCOME
COUNTRIES.
(a) List of High Income Countries.--The United States Trade
Representative shall compile and annually update a list of each foreign
country that is defined as ``high income'' by the official statistics
of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the
World Bank.
(b) Report Required.--With respect to each country included on the
most recent list required under subsection (a), the United States Trade
Representative, acting through the Chief Pharmaceutical Trade
Negotiator (as established pursuant to the amendments made by section
3), shall annually submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate and
concurrently publish on a publicly available website of the United
States Trade Representative a report that--
(1) describes in detail the results of a review of the
acts, policies, and practices of such country relating to the
trade in pharmaceutical products in the previous fiscal year;
(2) determines whether such acts, policies, or practices--
(A) are not developed and implemented in a fair,
nondiscriminatory, and transparent manner;
(B) are not market-based or do not appropriately
recognize the value of innovative medicines;
(C) deny reciprocal market access for United States
products;
(D) diminish incentives for innovation in a manner
that delays, prevents, or otherwise adversely impacts
the introduction of new medicines in the United States;
(E) violate or are inconsistent with the provisions
of, or otherwise deny benefits to the United States
under, any bilateral or multilateral trade agreement
with such country; and
(F) are unjustifiable or impose a significant
burden or unreasonable or discriminatory restriction on
United States commerce with such country; and
(3) describes the current status of any responsive actions
taken by the United States with respect to acts, policies, or
practices for which the United States Trade Representative has
determined and included in any prior report, pursuant to
paragraph (2), that the interests of the United States are
harmed, including responsive actions pursuant to title III of
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.).
SEC. 5. RESPONSE TO ADVERSE ACTIONS BY HIGH INCOME COUNTRIES.
Not later than 30 days after the United States Trade Representative
determines that an act, policy, or practice of a country included in
the most recent list required under section 4(a) meets any of the
criteria described in section 4(b)(2), the United States Trade
Representative shall submit to Committee on Ways and Means of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a plan to
respond to the act, policy, or practice, which may include initiating
an investigation under title III of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2411 et seq.), in accordance with section 302(b)(1) of that Act.
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