Title: Fixing Global Freeloading Act
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
Fixing Global Freeloading Act
This bill establishes the position of Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator must conduct trade negotiations and enforce trade agreements related to pharmaceutical products and services.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2209 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2209

  To establish the position of Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator in the 
   Office of the United States Trade Representative responsible for 
conducting trade negotiations and enforcing trade agreements related to 
   acts, policies, and practices of foreign governments that fail to 
     appropriately reward United States innovation with respect to 
                pharmaceuticals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 10, 2019

 Mr. Meadows introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish the position of Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator in the 
   Office of the United States Trade Representative responsible for 
conducting trade negotiations and enforcing trade agreements related to 
   acts, policies, and practices of foreign governments that fail to 
     appropriately reward United States innovation with respect to 
                pharmaceuticals, 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 ``Fixing Global Freeloading Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) International government price controls of 
        pharmaceutical products and services creates an unfair playing 
        field because the rest of the world relies on and benefits from 
        the biopharmaceutical innovation that takes place in the United 
        States, which supports 4.5 million jobs and amounts to $90 
        billion in research and development investment every year.
            (2) The United States pays the cost of developing 
        innovative and life-saving prescription drugs while other 
        countries refuse to pay their fair share for their health care 
        needs.
            (3) In fact, some of the United States trading partners are 
        ignoring obligations established under trade agreements and 
        setting up discriminatory rules to benefit local competitors 
        over United States companies.
            (4) Between 2010 and 2011, 23 countries implemented 89 
        distinct measures to contain government spending on 
        prescription drugs. Most used their single-payer healthcare 
        systems to impose drug price controls alongside increased 
        copayments, value-added tax rates on prescription drugs, and 
        other measures.
            (5) Studies have shown that government price controls 
        result in prices below actual market value and push the burden 
        of paying for innovative treatments on to United States 
        patients.

SEC. 3. CHIEF PHARMACEUTICAL NEGOTIATOR.

    (a) In General.--Section 141 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
2171) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)--
                    (A) by striking ``and one Chief Innovation and 
                Intellectual Property Negotiator'' and inserting ``one 
                Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator, 
                and one Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator'';
                    (B) by striking ``or the Chief Innovation and 
                Intellectual Property Negotiator'' and inserting ``the 
                Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator, 
                or the Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator''; and
                    (C) by striking ``and the Chief Innovation and 
                Intellectual Property Negotiator'' and inserting ``the 
                Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator, 
                and the Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator''; and
            (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraph:
            ``(7) The principal function of the Chief Pharmaceutical 
        Negotiator shall be to conduct trade negotiations and to 
        enforce trade agreements relating to United States 
        pharmaceutical products and services. The Chief Pharmaceutical 
        Negotiator shall be a vigorous advocate on behalf of United 
        States pharmaceutical interests. The Chief Pharmaceutical 
        Negotiator shall perform such other functions as the United 
        States Trade Representative may direct.''.
    (b) Compensation.--Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code is 
amended by striking ``Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property 
Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative.'' and 
inserting the following:
    ``Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator, Office of 
the United States Trade Representative.
    ``Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator, Office of the United States 
Trade Representative.''.
    (c) Report Required.--Not later than one year after the appointment 
of the first Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator pursuant to paragraph (2) 
of section 141(b) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by subsection 
(a), and annually thereafter, the United States Trade Representative 
shall submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a report 
describing in detail--
            (1) enforcement actions taken by the Trade Representative 
        during the one-year period preceding the submission of the 
        report to ensure the protection of United States pharmaceutical 
        products and services; and
            (2) other actions taken by the Trade Representative to 
        advance United States pharmaceutical products and services.
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