美国严重依赖中国药品原材料
America Is Heavily Reliant on China for Raw Materials in Medicines

For years, Democrats and Republicans have sounded the alarm about America’s dependence on China for medicines. An analysis published on Wednesday shows just how deep that reliance is at the earliest stage of the drug manufacturing process: Nearly 700 U.S. medicines use at least one chemical solely sourced from China.
多年来，民主党人和共和党人都在对美国药品生产依赖中国发出警告。周三发表的一份分析显示出这种依赖在药品生产过程的最早阶段已达到何等深度：近700种美国药品至少使用一种只在中国生产的化学原料。

As tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated in recent years, experts fear that this reliance could leave American patients vulnerable, especially if a trade war or future pandemic prompts China to curtail exports. Supply shortages for some generic medicines have already grown common.
随着美中紧张关系近年来持续升级，专家们担心这种依赖会使美国的患者面临风险，尤其是如果贸易战或未来的一场大流行病导致中国限制出口时。一些仿制药的供应短缺已变得常见。

The new data, from U.S. Pharmacopeia, a nonprofit that tracks the drug supply, identified the origins of chemicals used to make medicines. The analysis found that China was the sole supplier of at least one chemical in widely used antibiotics, like amoxicillin, and generic drugs for heart problems, seizures, cancer and H.I.V.
来自非营利组织美国药典的新数据追踪了药品供应链，找到了制造药品使用的化学原料的来源。这项分析发现，在一些广泛使用的抗生素（如阿莫西林）以及用于治疗心脏病、癫痫、癌症和艾滋病的仿制药中，中国是至少一种关键化学原料的唯一供应国。

One example is the allergy-relief medicine best known by the brand name Benadryl. (Kenvue, the company that sells Benadryl, did not return a request for comment.)
一个例子是最广为人知的抗过敏药苯海拉明。（苯海拉明的销售商Kenvue公司没有回复置评请求。）

There is almost no production of these chemicals in the United States because making them is dirty and labor and other costs make manufacturing them unprofitable. Chinese factories, by contrast, don’t face the same environmental restrictions and can make these raw materials inexpensively.
美国几乎没有生产这些化学品的工厂，因为其生产过程污染环境，而且美国的劳动力和其他成本导致生产无利可图。相比之下，中国的工厂不受同样的环境限制，并能以低成本生产这些原材料。

President Trump last week said he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all products from China to retaliate for curbs Beijing announced on rare-earth minerals. If he follows through, it could potentially mean that at least some drugmakers would pay hefty levies on raw materials that they import from China to make their products.
美国总统特朗普上周宣布，将对所有来自中国的产品征收 100%的关税，以报复中国对稀土矿物实施的出口管制。如果他真这么做的话，这可能意味着至少部分制药企业需为从中国进口的原料支付巨额关税。

Mr. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 15 percent on brand-name drugs from the European Union and 100 percent from other parts of the world, but he has delayed those. Most major drugmakers have said they will be exempt from any future drug tariffs, because of new U.S. manufacturing investments or drug pricing deals they have negotiated with the administration. The Trump administration has no plans to impose tariffs on generic drugs, an administration official said.
特朗普曾威胁要对来自欧盟的品牌药征收最高15%的关税，对来自世界其他地区的品牌药征收100%的关税，但已暂缓实施。美国的多数大型药企宣称，因其在美国的新建工厂投资计划或与政府达成的药价协议，将获得关税豁免。一名政府官员表示，特朗普政府没有对仿制药征收关税的计划。

This year, with Mr. Trump threatening tariffs, nearly all of the largest brand-name drugmakers have announced plans to spend billions of dollars building or expanding U.S. factories. But these plants will not make raw materials. Instead, they are expected to handle the later stages of drug production for top-selling medicines.
今年，由于特朗普威胁要征收关税，美国几乎所有主要的品牌制药商都宣布了耗资数十亿美元在美国新建或扩建工厂的计划。但这些药企不生产原材料，它们只负责畅销药的后期生产。

Experts who study the drug supply chain said there was no financial incentive for the production of raw materials to return to the United States.
研究药品供应链的专家们称，没有让原材料生产回流美国的经济诱因。

Making medicines is a multistep process, with factories in different countries often handling different stages. The process starts with the production of raw materials. A factory, often in India, will import those raw materials and use them to produce active ingredients, which will then be used to formulate the drug.
药品生产是一个多环节过程，不同国家的工厂通常负责不同的生产阶段。制药过程始于原材料的生产。一家通常位于印度的工厂将进口这些原材料，用其来生产活性成分，然后活性成分被用于配制药品。

U.S. Pharmacopeia’s analysis showed that even medicines that appeared to have broad geographic production can be reliant on China.
美国药典的分析显示，即使那些看似产地分布广泛的药品仍可能依赖中国。

Take, for example, amoxicillin, the widely used antibiotic that is sold by many different generic manufacturers. Factories in different parts of the world, including India, Jordan and Canada, handle the later stages of producing it. But two of the raw materials used to make amoxicillin are produced entirely in China, the analysis found.
以阿莫西林为例，许多不同的仿制药厂都销售这种广泛使用的抗生素。分布在世界各地（如印度、约旦、加拿大）的工厂处理该药生产的后期阶段。但分析发现，用于生产阿莫西林的两种原材料只在中国生产。

“Our hope is that by having better data and more visibility, that can inform targeted interventions into creating resilience and security for patients,” Carrie Harney, an official at U.S. Pharmacopeia, said.
“我们希望通过更完善的数据和更高的透明度，能为实施针对性干预提供依据，从而保障患者用药安全并增强供应链韧性，”美国药典的代表凯莉·哈尼说。