Yesterday, the Treasury Department issued a proposed rule implementing the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act, which restricts certain U.S. investments in China and other countries of concern. The proposal would expand existing outbound investment restrictions to include biotechnology.
Sally C. Pipes, President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, and Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., PRI’s Senior Fellow in Business and Economics, issued the following joint statement:
“Treasury’s proposal aims to prevent U.S. investment from benefiting our adversaries. However, overly broad restrictions could backfire, giving Chinese biotech firms a competitive advantage while denying American patients access to promising new treatments.
“Washington cannot preserve America’s leadership in medical innovation by making it harder for American companies to compete. American drugmakers invest billions in research, partnerships, and promising discoveries from around the world to develop new medicines. Government barriers that discourage these market-driven investments threaten the innovation that has made the United States a global pharmaceutical leader.
“National security restrictions should target genuine threats, not create unnecessary barriers to private investment. America’s pharmaceutical leadership depends on free enterprise, strong intellectual property rights, and a competitive market.”