The U.S. is a global leader in healthcare innovation, developing groundbreaking medicines that help Americans enjoy longer and happier lives. Recent breakthroughs to curtail the obesity epidemic or combat cancer are prime examples that have made headlines. But while major brand name drug companies often get the publicity, an army of small businesses is working behind the scenes to support this lifesaving work.
Small businesses have a hand in nearly every step of the medicine manufacturing pipeline. Some participate in sophisticated processes like synthesizing medicine ingredients, while others design software for quality control or specialize in sterile packaging. After medicines are made, logistics and storage companies then get involved to distribute these products where they can help patients most.
In fact, the Small Business Administration indicates that there are thousands of small businesses that participate directly in this ecosystem.
Policies adopted under the Trump administration are set to supercharge these small businesses—providing them more opportunity to create jobs and expand. The need for this support is more important than ever as China, backed by anti-free market state subsidies and aggressive industrial policies, is attempting to challengeU.S. supremacy in medical innovation.
Thanks to the tax cuts in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, the vast network of small businesses that support our drug manufacturing supply chain are on track to make unprecedented investments in new technology and infrastructure. How? It locks in lower tax rates for pass-through businesses and makes the 20 percent small business deduction permanent—giving entrepreneurs the needed certainty to plan for the future.
Importantly, the bill restores 100 percent immediate expensing for small manufacturers, which incentivizes investment in cutting edge equipment needed to support American medical innovation. Yet another provision similarly provides small businesses the opportunity to write-off domestic research and development, which further promotes advancement.
In tandem with these pro-growth initiatives, the White House is taking steps to make it easier and cheaper for patients to access medicines. The administration has taken executive action to elevate direct-to-consumer medicine sales, which expands patient choice and lowers prices by cutting out healthcare middlemen. Out-of-control government programs that allow hospitals to exploit patients are also in the crosshairs.
The president’s aggressive policy agenda is more than welcome as entrenched Biden-era policies continue to chip away at the free market.
Remnants of the sorely misnamed Inflation Reduction Act—initially passed in 2022 under Biden without a single Republican vote—are squeezing businesses in the healthcare space with government price controls. It is predictably stifling innovation, with one analysis suggesting it has led to the premature cancellation of more than 50 medical research programs in addition to the discontinuation of dozens of drugs.
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These government puppet strings threaten to undermine President Trump’s pro-growth Main Street agenda. While the heavy-handed price controls are directly applied to the brand name companies selling medicines, the downstream effects kneecap the small businesses that support “Made in America” pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The White House should work with its allies in Congress to explore opportunities to walk back Biden’s price controls, as well as be careful not to chart a similarly self-destructive course. For example, the so-called “most favored nation” policy currently being floated by some in the Trump orbit would effectively double down on Biden’s price control schemes and undercut the free market.
The small business community is the backbone of American industries, ranging from hospitality to healthcare. Bolstering this network of entrepreneurs that support the manufacture of medicines will not only drive job creation and economic opportunity, but it will cement the U.S. as a leader in developing the next miracle cure.
Elaine Parker is the President of the Job Creators Network Foundation.