On Monday night, the hawks in the U.S. House of Representatives overcame the final lobbying efforts and passed the “Biosecure Act” with the support of 306 votes to 81, citing national security reasons to blacklist certain Chinese biotech companies and their U.S. subsidiaries.
Supporters believe that this legislation is necessary to protect the personal health, genetic information, and the U.S. drug supply chain. There are concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may develop biological weapons or exploit biological data obtained from around the world in other ways.
The House Oversight Committee passed this legislation in May with a vote of 40 to 1, initially impacting five companies, including BGI Genomics, BGI Tech Solutions, BGI Tech Solutions’ U.S. subsidiary Complete Genomics, Wuxi Apptec, and Wuxi Biologics.
This act is the latest significant move by the U.S. Congress, following their successful push earlier this year for the Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest from TikTok, or face a ban.
This week, the U.S. Congress is also set to vote on several bills related to China, including legislation targeting the Chinese electric vehicle supply chain and other industries.
During earlier debates in the House on Monday, both Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP John Moolenaar and the committee’s chief Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi expressed support for the legislation.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee approved a similar bill in March, but it is currently unclear when or if the full Senate will vote on the legislation.
Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern from Massachusetts, a prominent figure, called on his colleagues to reject the bill, stating that selecting companies for punishment without clear standards should be revised.
McGovern stated, “In America, Congress does not randomly select companies for punishment without clear standards or due process.”
He pointed out that he was sanctioned by Beijing last month for opposing human rights abuses by the CCP, resulting in being banned from entering China.
McGovern expressed that if there is evidence of misconduct by companies, he supports shutting down those firms, even those in his own district.
Regarding the legislation, he remarked, “This is what they do in China. Chinese officials decide they don’t like you, so they shut you down.”
However, Complete Genomics announced in May that they would open a laboratory in the high-tech corridor in Massachusetts, near McGovern’s district. Also, Wuxi Apptec, headquartered in China, announced in January plans to expand their factory in McGovern’s district, creating an estimated 200 new jobs.
The primary sponsor of the bill, Republican Brad Wenstrup from Ohio, stated that these companies were singled out because they have aligned with the CCP’s attempts to dominate the biotech industry, raising concerns about the data of millions of Americans being at risk.
This legislation has global implications for the pharmaceutical industry, as most drug supply chains worldwide include active ingredients produced by Chinese biotech companies.
Until 2032, companies and researchers funded by the U.S. can continue to use products from Chinese companies, such as DNA sequencing machines from Complete Genomics.
Senators are discussing adding this bill to the annual defense policy bill in the Senate.