Premier Issues Special Report on Impacts of Tariffs on Healthcare

Premier has issued a report on the potential impacts of President Trump’s tariffs on healthcare.

Trump signed executive orders implementing tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China on February 1. As of February 3, the tariffs on Mexican and Canadian exports have been paused for 30 days. As of February 4, “a 10 percent tariff now applies to all Chinese imports, with no exception process announced for healthcare supply chain importers.” China has implemented retaliatory tariffs on certain goods from the U.S. as well.

Premier detailed certain actions they will take (or continue) in light of these tariffs. They have expressed their commitment to “contracting with suppliers who value transparency and demonstrate manufacturing resiliency, redundancy, and quality investments.” They are also evaluating new contracts to “identify potential risks as a result of tariffs, if and as they take effect.”

They also write that tariff policies “must be weighed carefully through a risk/reward lens, particularly for healthcare products.” They identify “significant concerns that a drastic increase in the percentage rate of any tariffs, coupled with an aggressive timeline for implementation, would not be feasible. A gradual 'glidepath' approach to tariffs implementation on healthcare products would reflect a commitment to balancing the need for supply chain resilience with the realities of healthcare delivery and finances.”