Trump Reroutes Pharmaceutical Manufacturing from China to New York Plant
WH trade direct says its the 'greatest second acts in American industrial history'
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The Trump administration has awarded Kodak Pharmaceuticals a $765 million government loan to aid the domestic manufacturing of certain medical drugs under the Defense Production Act.
Trump's move to reroute the manufacturing to Kodak's New York Plant from China is expected to create 350 jobs, according to senior administration officials.
The move is part of a more significant effort to secure the United States' supply of critical pharmaceutical ingredients while modernizing the Strategic National Stockpile.
Under Trump's direction, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has worked with the Department of Defense to relocate major supply chains out of China.
Trump officials are calling it a win for President Trump's "America First" doctrine.
"It's a big win for the Defense Production Act," said Development Finance Corporation CEO Adam Boehler on the call.
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"It's a big win for New York. It's a big, big win for blue-collar jobs," Boehler added.
Boehler will travel to Kodak's Rochester, New York, facility, along with White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Director Peter Navarro and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Rear Adm. John Polowczyk.
Navarro praised the plan saying it "literally the industrial renaissance" of New York, "which has been absolutely decimated by foreign competition."
The company will be able to produce 25% of the active ingredients needed for U.S. pharmaceuticals.
"It's unacceptable going forward that American pharmaceuticals — the generic form of pharmaceuticals — are made in China and outside of the United States," Boehler said on the call.
"We will be self-reliant, and that will ensure our safety."
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The company has a 12,000-acre facility in northern New York with 50 million square feet of manufacturing space for their own on-site power plants, along with a wastewater treatment facility which can process 30 million gallons per day.
"Back in February, [Trump] pulled me into the office and said, 'Look, we are dangerously dependent on the rest of the world, particularly China, not just for our medical supplies like masks, gloves, medical equipment like ventilators, but also for essential medicines,'" Navarro said, with the president insisting, "'We need to attack this problem from all different sides.'"
"What we are trying to do now with projects like Kodak is to become an arsenal of medicine," said Navarro.
For Kodak, "this may well be one of the greatest second acts in American industrial history," Navarro concluded.
