AdvaMed’s president says a reciprocal zero-for-zero tariff model would ensure fair competition and patient access.
Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of AdvaMed, a medical technology association, is calling for a reciprocal “zero-for-zero” model with respect to tariffs among US trading partners for medical technologies.
In an interview with Joe Mullings of the Mullings Group, Whitaker stated that tariff-free trade is critical to maintaining the competitive nature of the medtech industry, which keeps prices down and enables patients to have access to a variety of medtech.
“If we can get to a [reciprocal] zero-for-zero model, [based on a] humanitarian exemption, that’s the best place for everyone to land,” Whitaker says in the interview. “I know there’s a bigger issue at play here on trade imbalances, but on behalf of patients…I think that’s the place where we need to land.
“It looks like China is going to have their own set of exemptions from tariffs. It feels like an element of that is going to be in medtech, and we’ve argued really aggressively with Chinese officials that they need to exempt medtech products on behalf of patients as well,” Whitaker continues. “So, we’re starting to see some movement there.
“Then, as you look to Europe, we’ve been making the argument in every country, but particularly in Europe…why don’t we just all move to a [reciprocal] zero-for-zero tariff model? Zero tariffs from Europe on us, though they’re already really low—zero tariffs from the US to Europe…We feel very confident…just let us compete fairly, evenly, no tariffs—let us serve patients as best we can. Let’s impact peoples’ lives, and the best companies are going to win. That’s the way the system should work.”
Since the beginning of the tariff debate, AdvaMed has called for an exemption for medtech, noting the US is a global leader in medtech innovation and manufacturing and that medtech is essential to patient care nationwide and globally.
Whitaker recently outlined why medtech warrants flexibility from tariffs in a Baltimore Sun op-ed. A recent Financial Times news story explores the supply chain complexity of key medtech products and how tariffs would upend the provision of component parts and ultimately the finished goods upon which patients rely.
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