“For far too long, wealthy nations such as Japan have benefited from American medical innovation while implementing costly price controls on medications that result in higher prices for U.S. consumers.”
The Center for American Principles joined a coalition of policy organizations urging U.S. officials to address Japan’s pharmaceutical price control policies during upcoming trade discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
In the coalition letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Japanese Ambassador George Glass, the signatories argue that Japan’s government price-setting system artificially suppresses the cost of innovative medicines while shifting a disproportionate share of global research and development costs onto American patients and taxpayers. Japan reportedly pays roughly half as much as the United States for new treatments, even when accounting for economic differences between the countries.
The coalition explains that these policies drain tens of billions of dollars from the biomedical innovation ecosystem each year and divert resources away from research, job creation, and the development of new cures. The letter urges the administration to address these imbalances during ongoing trade discussions and to ensure that foreign price control regimes do not undermine American medical innovation.
Signatories also emphasize that reforming these policies would benefit patients globally by encouraging greater investment in cutting-edge therapies and expanding access to breakthrough treatments.