The United States imposes a 50% import tariff on some medical consumables in China
Source: Published:2024-06-07 Hist:
On May 14th, the White House announced that President Biden had instructed trade representatives to raise tariffs on goods worth $18 billion from China to protect American workers and businesses.The Chinese goods that will be subject to additional tariffs involve industries such as steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, port cranes, and medical consumables.
In terms of medical consumables, the announcement mentions that the tariff rate for syringes and needles will be increased from 0% to 50% in 2024; Personal protective equipment, including masks and some respirators, will have tariffs increased from 0% -7.5% to 25% in 2024; The tariff on medical rubber gloves will be increased from 7.5% to 25%, with an increase set for 2026.
The products subject to tariffs above are all low value medical consumables. In the Chinese medical device industry, low value consumables are known as the easiest and earliest sub category to go global. In particular, during the COVID-19, the export of consumables such as masks, protective clothing, medical gloves and testing reagents produced in China rose significantly.
With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the export value of a variety of low value medical consumables fell back. The Economic Observer website found that the trade volume of Chinese syringes and needles exported to the United States in 2023 was 224 million US dollars; The trade volume of Chinese mask exports to the United States is 74 million US dollars; The export trade volume of medical rubber gloves to the United States is 442 million US dollars.
The leading enterprises that produce the above-mentioned products and have export trade include Steady Medical, Yingke Medical, Kangdelai, Lanfan Medical, Zhonghong Medical, Aomei Medical, Adopting Shares, Wuzhou Medical, etc.
However, due to the low market concentration in China's low value consumables industry, the trade volume of leading enterprises is not high. Taking injection puncture leader Condolet as an example, the United States is its largest overseas market region. In 2023, Condolet's sales in the US market were 158 million yuan, accounting for about 10% of the industry's total exports that year.
The White House said in the announcement that raising tariffs on the above Chinese medical products will help support and maintain the development of relevant industries in the United States. These industries have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to provide products and services to hospitals in the United States in the future. The US government and industry have made significant investments to ensure that healthcare workers and patients in the United States receive the necessary medical products in a timely manner.
At the regular press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 14th before the White House announcement, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that China has always opposed unilateral tariff increases that violate World Trade Organization rules and will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
