Ramaswamy’s 95% figure matches what a 2019 Politico article said about ibuprofen, but the percentages for other medicines were smaller.
However, the 95% figure is greatly exaggerated. Available data puts the share at no bigger than 20%, and possibly even lower. In 2018, according to the article,"China accounted for 95% of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 91% of U.S. imports of hydrocortisone, 70% of U.S. imports of acetaminophen, 40% to 45% of U.S. imports of penicillin and 40% of U.S. imports of heparin, according to Commerce Department data."
"No single foreign country dominates the overall supply of for the U.S. market," the study concluded. , a Washington-based think tank. He found that although China does account for 75% of the U.S. supply of vitamins B6, B12, B1 and C and nearly 70% of its vitamin E supply, Chinese producers account for a much smaller share of other key ingredients.
These low shares calculate imports from China as a percentage of all U.S. imports, without taking into account what the U.S. produces. By Graham’s calculations, the U.S. is not only producing significant amounts of pharmaceutical ingredients for itself but is exporting a growing amount to China. Email interview with Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations, Oct. 25, 2023“When I came into office, Iran had $70 billion in foreign exchange reserves. … By the time I left, they had nothing. They were broke.”