The U.S. Senate passed a "biosecurity law" restricting transactions with Chinese biotech corporations by including it in the defense authorization act amendment.
According to the KoreaBIO Bio Economy Research Center on the 10th, the defense authorization act amendment, including the biosecurity law, was approved on the 9th (local time) in the afternoon by a vote of 77 in favor and 20 against.
The defense authorization act is a key law that sets the United States' defense budget formulation and policy direction.
The core of the biosecurity law is to ban the U.S. government from entering into contracts with certain biotech corporations, effectively targeting China.
The bill includes a ban on the U.S. administration, related agencies, and corporations receiving government subsidies from purchasing products or services from Chinese biotech corporations that fall under "companies of concern." Earlier, the U.S. Congress designated major Chinese biotech corporations such as WuXi Biologics, WuXi AppTec, BGI, MGI, and Complete Genomics as "companies of concern."
The remaining step is the conference committee process to reconcile the defense authorization bills passed separately by the Senate and the House. Through this, a final compromise will be produced, both chambers will approve it, and it will be sent to U.S. President Donald Trump for his signature before the law takes effect.
Earlier, the House-passed defense authorization bill cleared the chamber on the 10th of last month. The House bill included a ban on joint research with universities or researchers linked to the military or intelligence agencies of hostile nations.
Last year, the biosecurity law failed to clear the U.S. Congress. It is known that some lawmakers opposed the biosecurity law on the grounds that the procedure for designating companies of concern was opaque and there were no provisions to remove designated corporations. The current amendment is said to add provisions to notify designated corporations of the designation and its reasons, provide an opportunity to file an objection within 90 days, and outline the removal procedure.
There is also a view that if the final defense authorization act includes the biosecurity law and blocks Chinese corporations from doing business in the United States, competitors outside China, such as Korea and Japan, could benefit by receiving the business volumes.