Donald Trump will soon meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Near the top of the agenda should be an effort to secure a pledge from her to ease Japan’s price controls on US-made brand drugs.
UP senior fellow Tomas Philipson makes a compelling case in the Washington Examiner:
For decades, Japan, the world’s fifth-largest economy, has artificially suppressed its spending on innovative medicines, effectively freeriding on U.S. rewards for innovation…
That free-riding is unfair. But it’s also a very tangible threat to our economy and our health. If American companies are losing tens of billions in revenue, they cannot hire as many workers or develop as many life-saving treatments.