While Washington argues over trade deals and border security, America is quietly facing a national security crisis hiding in plain sight — its pharmaceutical supply chain. On Tuesday’s Alex Marlow Show, Breitbart News economics editor John Carney laid out a sobering truth: the United States is severely dependent on foreign countries for almost all its medications.

Carney warned that this vulnerability is bigger than most people realize. “We’re entirely reliant on the rest of the world for pharmaceuticals,” he said. “From over-the-counter things that should be really easy to make to high-tech drugs, we’re severely dependent on foreign imports.”

The implications are staggering. Americans assume their local pharmacy shelves will stay stocked with blood pressure pills, antibiotics, and life-saving treatments. But most of those drugs—or at least the ingredients needed to make them—come from countries that don’t always share our values or priorities. Carney noted, “People say we can import from the E.U., but what happens if the E.U. doesn’t like our stance on Israel, for instance? They could say, ‘We’re not going to sell you your statins.’”

The same goes for India, one of the world’s largest generic drug manufacturers. Carney explained that geopolitical disputes—like tariffs or even diplomatic spats—could result in sudden shortages of vital medications. “They could retaliate by squeezing our medicine supply,” he warned.

This isn’t a hypothetical fear. Drug shortages are already a worsening reality across the country. From cancer treatments to children’s antibiotics, American hospitals and pharmacies are increasingly facing empty shelves. What used to be isolated incidents are now systemic symptoms of a dangerously fragile supply chain.

Even the Department of Health and Human Services has acknowledged that over 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in U.S. medications are manufactured overseas, mostly in China and India. That means one factory shutdown, one border closure, or one political grudge could jeopardize the health of millions.

So why hasn’t this vulnerability been fixed?

Carney points to a combination of short-term profit thinking by corporations and sluggishness from policymakers who’ve been too willing to rely on “just-in-time” global supply chains. “The economics may look good in a spreadsheet,” he said, “but when the rubber hits the road and people can’t get their insulin or their chemo drugs, it becomes a matter of life and death.”

He’s not alone in raising the alarm. National security experts, military planners, and even former FDA officials have warned for years that America needs to bring drug manufacturing back home—not just for economic reasons, but for survival.

The challenge now is whether lawmakers will take action before it’s too late. As Carney put it bluntly, “We’ve got to stop pretending this is just a trade issue. It’s a sovereignty issue. It’s a health issue. And it’s a matter of national security.”