Pacemakers, ultrasound gear costs could rise from China trade tariffs

[jpak]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2018/07/07/pacemakers-ultrasound-gear-costs-could-rise-china-trade-tariffs/763907002/

t's going to be more expensive to import pacemakers, ultrasound equipment and other medical gear from China, which means the cost of those services could tick up.

But it could have been worse. The medical device sector did not take as big a hit as anticipated from the Trump Administration's 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods that went into effect Friday, part of President Trump's plan to equalize global trade polices. This means patients may be able to avoid higher doctor and hospital bills, at least for now.

After President Trump's announcement about planned tariffs and the release this spring about the list of products to likely be affected, a group of 40 lawmakers in Congress pressed for a reduction in the tariffs on medical devices, as did industry trade group AdvaMed. In the end, the proposed amount of medical technology affected was lowered from nearly $3 billion to about $836 million.

Many products including defibrillators, hearing aids, artificial joints, artificial teeth and fillings "escaped" the tariffs, at least for now, and at this point the effect is likely "manageable," said Brandon Henry, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in a recent note to analysts. "While we believe this was positive for medtech, given the magnitude of future tariffs proposed by President Trump, medical devices may not escape the potential upcoming 10 percent tariffs."

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