USTRx Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Use Sovereignty To reduce Rx Act or the USTRx Act
This bill establishes the role of Chief Pharmaceutical Trade Negotiator within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The negotiator must conduct trade negotiations, enforce trade agreements relating to U.S. pharmaceutical products, and address acts, policies, or practices of high-income countries that adversely impact the market access of U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The USTR must annually compile a list of high-income countries based on official statistics of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the World Bank. Based on that list, the negotiator must submit a report describing (1) such countries' actions and impacts relating to the pharmaceutical trade, and (2) the current status of any responsive actions taken by the United States.
The bill also requires the USTR to submit to Congress a plan to respond to certain adverse acts, policies, or practices of high-income countries that are related to the trade of pharmaceutical products.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on August 5, 2026. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on August 5, 2026: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Tim Sheehy (R-MT) introduced it on August 5, 2026, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on August 5, 2026, 82 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 82 days ago, on August 5, 2026.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers