As President Trump prepares to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a high-stakes attempt to ease renewed trade tensions, another front in America’s economic rivalry with China is emerging: the race for global biotech leadership. Just as U.S. leadership in shipbuilding and semiconductors slipped away in past decades, the country now risks ceding biomedical innovation to China at the very moment when biotech defines both national strength and health security.
When looking at the past century, a clear pattern has emerged of the U.S. rising as the manufacturing star of essential goods, only to hand the business to China. We’ve seen it with shipbuilding. We’ve seen it with semiconductors. And it’s currently happening with biomedical research.
At the end of World War I, it was clear that the United States was woefully weak in maritime capabilities, both commercial and defense, and dependent on Great Britain, France, and Italy for ships and shipping lane control. In response, Congress passed legislation investing in U.S. shipping and shipbuilding capacity. In just 30 years, the U.S. built 7,800 ships, and, by World War II, had become the world’s leading shipbuilder. In addition, the U.S. also positioned itself as the leader in setting the market rules for shipping, establishing the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), which regulated the worldwide industry.
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