Donald Trump’s proposed 25 percent tariff on more than $150 billion of Chinese products may cause the price of many medications and medical devices to increase.
The tariffs would impact a vast array of products the U.S. imports to create a variety of medications including insulin, antidepressants and EpiPens.The New York Times estimated that 12 percent of medical devices are imported from China, costing $3 billion a year. The Times also reported that the tariffs could cost the medical device industry $1.5 billion per year.
Art Caplan, a medical ethicist and director of the division of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, told Boston Public Radio Tuesday that he expects to start hearing companies complain about their rising prices in a few weeks.
“You can expect screaming to start as soon as these things click in,” he said.
In retaliation, China said it planned to put a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of US goods. Caplan said that these tariffs would increase the price of some medical supplies even more.
Caplan says that pharmaceutical companies and medical device suppliers will surely feel the tariffs, but consumers may not.
“I’m even tempted to say, given the ridiculously high prices we have, maybe no one would even be aware as a consumer. It is a lot of insurance payments and third-party payments.
