Big Pharma protections trip up Trump's NAFTA replacement

What they're saying: "This is an outrageous giveaway to Big Pharma," Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) told AP.

• Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), who chairs the Ways and Means trade subcommittee, said he didn't think the agreement could pass his subcommittee without changes to the biologics provisions.

Details: The U.S. guarantees 12 years of market exclusivity to new biologic drugs, before cheaper quasi-generic competitors known as biosimilars can come to market.

• The USMCA would require Canada and Mexico to guarantee 10 years of exclusivity for biologics. Both countries offer less than that today.
• "By including 10 years in a treaty, we are locking ourselves in to a higher level of monopoly protection for drugs that are already taking in billions of dollars a year," Jeffrey Francer, the general counsel for a group representing generics, told AP.

The other side: Generous exclusivity periods are designed to help drugmakers recoup the cost of developing a new drug, including the cost of failed products, and biologics are particularly complex (which is why they are particularly expensive).

The bottom line: The negotiations over USMCA are dynamic and cover a lot of ground. Biologics may not sink the agreement. And the White House is hoping to peel off moderate Democrats, not necessarily the Rosa DeLauros of the world.

• But for Democrats to be folding one of their strongest issues into this debate can’t be a good sign.

Go deeper: Troubles ahead for Trump's NAFTA replacement