Trump tariffs: Several DME product categories dropped

WASHINGTON - Efforts by AAHomecare and its manufacturer members to exempt several product categories from a 25% tariff on imported materials and products from China have partially paid off.

AAHomecare announced this week that 10 of the 48 product categories that they had targeted for exemption have been removed from an original list of 1,333.

“I've never seen AAHomecare leadership act so quickly and effectively under such difficult circumstances and time constraints,” said Mitchell Yoel, senior vice president, global commercial operations, at Drive DeVilbiss.  “Getting a large group of competing manufacturers together, harnessing the relevant legal and regulatory resources, and finishing the job by getting all stakeholders to do their part so that the industry could speak with one voice to our government, all in a matter of days, was both impressive and, to my knowledge, unprecedented.”

In a little more than a month, AAHomecare and manufacturer members engaged law firm King & Spaulding to draft industry comments and to serve as a clearinghouse for companies to confidentially submit information on product categories they wanted removed from the list, and to then submit comments to the U.S. Trade Representative.

John Anderson, CEO of Cure Medical, also credited the efforts of the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA).

“I was impressed by how quickly AAHomecare and HIDA united a coalition of DME manufacturers as a team to stop these changes,” he said. “AAHomecare leadership gathered vital information from us to help create a report on the economic impact that these tariffs would create, outlining how destructive tariffs would be for people who depend on medical devices.”

The product categories that have been removed from the list are:

• 40169915: Caps, lids, seals, stoppers and other closures, of non-cellular vulcanized rubber other than hard rubber

• 73202050: Iron or steel, helical springs (o/than suitable for motor-vehicle suspension)

• 76042910: Aluminum alloy, profiles (other than hollow profiles)

• 85079040: Parts of lead-acid storage batteries, including separators therefor

• 90183100: Syringes, with or without their needles; parts and accessories thereof

• 90183900: Catheters, cannulae and the like nesi, used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences, and parts and accessories thereof

• 90192000: Ozone, oxygen and aerosol therapy, artificial respiration or other therapeutic respiration apparatus, and parts and accessories thereof

• 90211000: Orthopedic or fracture appliances, and parts and accessories thereof

• 90213100: Artificial joints and parts and accessories

• 90262080: Instruments and apparatus, other than electrical, for measuring or checking the pressure of liquids or gases