The medtech industry group warns that broad tariffs could raise health care costs, stifle innovation, and threaten jobs.
The White House on Wednesday announced sweeping new tariffs on imported goods, citing persistent trade deficits and a lack of reciprocity from global trading partners as a threat to US national and economic security.
Under the executive order, a 10% baseline tariff will be imposed on all imports, unless explicitly exempted, starting April 5, 2025, with higher, country-specific tariffs scheduled to take effect April 9. The policy—framed as a “reciprocal tariff”—is positioned as an effort to rebalance global trade and boost domestic manufacturing across key sectors. While pharmaceuticals and certain other products, including semiconductors and energy goods, are exempt, industry groups are seeking clarity on how the tariffs may impact sectors like medical technology.
AdvaMed expressed concern that the broad application of these tariffs could harm the US medical technology industry. “If implemented as proposed, broad-based tariffs of this nature would act much as an excise tax,” says AdvaMed president and CEO Scott Whitaker in a statement. “It will have a negative impact on innovation, cost jobs, and increase overall costs to the health care system. Historically, industries with a meaningful humanitarian mission have been exempted from broad tariffs, and as a result, we have seen no to low tariffs on medtech from all key trading partners.”
AdvaMed says it remains committed to working with the administration to make the case for excluding medtech from the new import taxes.
“While disappointed in this initial announcement, we look forward to continuing our conversations with the White House to help them understand the important role the medtech industry plays in our health care ecosystem, the value it provides to patients, and the importance of the industry to continued US economic growth. The medtech industry should be exempted from these tariffs,” says Whitaker in a statement.
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