Daines Presses Biden’s Trade Rep on Waiving Vaccine Patents, Trade Issues Impacting MT

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines challenged the United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai on President Biden’s proposal to waive vaccine patents and called on the Biden administration to re-engage with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) for the benefit of Montana.

 To watch the exchange, click HERE.

 

“China has long been a serial abuser of IP, and the China Phase One deal made progress in that space. Our focus needs to be on fully and aggressively enforcing that deal. We need to strengthen and enforce our IP protections, not weaken or waive them,” Daines said. “I am very concerned that the recent decision to support waiving vaccine IP protections will harm U.S. innovation and our leadership in vaccines, provide a windfall for adversaries such as China and Russia, and not expedite vaccinations globally.”

 

Daines also urged Tai to counter China’s growing influence and re-engage with the TPP to increase the US’s influence in the Asia-Pacific and open up trade opportunities for Montana. Watch and download the exchange, HERE.