Premier Submits Comments on Increased Tariffs on Medical Products
Premier submitted comments in response to the US Trade Representative (USTR)’s solicitation for input on a new wave of tariffs on $18 billion worth of goods manufactured in China, including medical products and their raw materials, such as syringes, PPE, gloves, semiconductors and steel. In its comments, Premier urged the USTR to modify its proposal to prevent unintended consequences that could further fracture the US healthcare supply chain and potentially raise healthcare costs in the short-term. Specifically, Premier urged the USTR to:
Clarify that the needles and syringes category is only applicable to plastic needles and syringes as alluded to in the original White House announcement and does not include glass or enteral syringes;
Delay the implementation timeline for medical items and their componentry by at least six months to provide sufficient time for manufacturers and healthcare providers to prepare and adjust;
Gradually increase tariff percentages annually over a five-year period to provide a glidepath for manufacturers to continue to invest in domestic and near-shore manufacturing;
Broaden the definition of PPE beyond face masks to also include other PPE items that have significant domestic and near-shore manufacturing capabilities; and
Augment supply chain resiliency efforts through additional mechanisms such as tax incentives for domestic manufacturing and the creation of trusted trade partnerships for near-shoring.
