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WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is considering scaling back intellectual-property protections for big drugmakers to help win Democratic support for a new trade pact with Mexico and Canada, according to people familiar with the matter.
Many Democrats, backed by labor unions and consumer groups, are pushing the administration to reduce the length of time that leading biologic drugs would be protected from generic imitators in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.
The accord, which must be ratified by Congress, now protects these drugs for 10 years. That compares with 12 years under U.S. law.
Democrats and others want that time period reduced, or at least new language to allow for a reduction in the 10 years if U.S. domestic law changes.
