AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker appeared before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee today to continue to assert that medtech deserves tariff exemptions in trade negotiations.
“To be clear, we applaud the president’s efforts to bring more manufacturing back the United States and fix some of the existing trade imbalances, but the reality is, up to 70% of medtech used in America is already made in America, supporting 3 million jobs across this country, and that’s growing every day. The U.S. is the largest med tech market in the world, accounting for 40% of global sales, and it’s unquestionably the global leader in innovation. If there’s a breakthrough in medical technology, chances are it was developed right here. Tariff policy, if deployed in the wrong way, could put all of that at risk,” Whitaker said.
He later said: “We’re asking for medtech products to be treated with the reciprocal zero-for-zero model in each of the administration’s country-by-country negotiations. Historically, this has been the place that medtech has landed.”
Advamed welcomes a U.S. pause on some tariffs in early April that reduced turmoil in financial markets. Still, major U.S. medtech companies have been reporting in their earnings reports that the tariffs will cost them this year: up to $300, million for Cardinal Health, $200 million for Stryker, $200 million for Boston Scientific, and a few hundred million dollars on a half-year basis for Abbott.
Shortly before the Trump administration announced the framework for a U.S.–U.K. trade agreement last week, AdvaMed joined the Association of British HealthTech Industries to call for an additional deal for reciprocal “zero for zero” medical technology tariffs between the two countries.
According to Whitaker, the medical device industry could be especially impacted by tariffs because its highly regulated nature means that it takes years to shift operations. The supply chain is also highly complex: A medtech product can contain several hundred parts from multiple countries and multiple regions around the world.
Whitaker stressed that medtech products are often not optional for people; they’re mandatory, making the difference between life and death. “It’s essential that this industry is protected from tariffs for humanitarian reasons, as it historically has been.”
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