U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to boost U.S. biotechnology and biomanufacturing.
According to the White House, Biden signed the "National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative" on Monday.
The White House asserts that the order will ensure that biotechnologies invented in the U.S. are made in the U.S., contributing to job creation, strengthened supply-chain security and lower prices.
It also said that the U.S. has relied too heavily on foreign materials and bioproduction, and its past off-shoring of critical industries, including biotechnology, threatens its ability to access materials like important chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The White House will hold a meeting on Wednesday and unveil detailed plans to implement the executive order.
Bloomberg said the order is aimed at expanding the U.S.' domestic production of bio-based products and reducing its reliance on China. It added that the U.S. has allowed high-tech production to migrate abroad, generating concern among U.S. national security and intelligence officials about reliance on China's advanced biomanufacturing infrastructure.
The move draws attention from South Korea as the country is seeking to address its concerns over another America-centric policy by Washington that withholds tax incentives for electric vehicles(EV) assembled outside of North America.
Some South Korean pharmaceutical firms are operating overseas manufacturing bases for U.S. companies, such as Samsung Biologics and SK Bioscience, which produce Moderna and Novavax COVID-19 vaccines, respectively, and some market watchers expect the latest U.S. executive order to negatively affect those deals.