The hospital supplies sector is set to incur significant losses due to tariffs being imposed by US President Donald Trump. These tariffs are expected to affect as much as 78% of all 510k approved hospital supplies that are manufactured outside of the US, and 510k approved products are medical devices that have received clearance from the FDA to be marketed in the US, according to Medsource Database, which collates data on the medical device supply chain, by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
More precisely, the tariffs will have direct consequences for the 66% of 510k approved hospital supplies which are manufactured solely outside of the US.
GlobalData estimates the US hospital supplies market was worth $25.1 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $41.4 billion in 2033 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3%. This projected growth may be hindered due to supply chain disruptions caused by tariff hikes, which will also inflate consumer costs created to make up for losses from these fees. As a result, accessibility to these devices would be reduced and generate higher demand compared to the supply, further increasing prices.
Aidan Robertson, Medical Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The US medical device market heavily relies on imports from foreign manufacturing, and any drastic changes in trade policy may have significant impacts on the cost of consumer pricing and the supply chain, leading to reduced accessibility to vital products. This is evident especially in the case of the hospital supplies market.”
Additionally, the impact of retaliatory tariffs from foreign countries is expected to cause losses for US medical device exporters, putting pressure on manufacturers, which may decrease foreign investment and negatively impact prices domestically.
Robertson concludes: “The ongoing trade war presents a clear risk to medical device manufacturers that produce devices primarily abroad, and they may look to mitigate this risk in the future; however, the immediate losses incurred by tariffs in the short term will be hard to avoid.” (PR)
