The U.S. trade war with China threatens to hit hospitals and health systems as well as consumers in the form of higher prices and product shortages, the president of medical supply distributor DealMed told Yahoo Finance.
On Sept. 1, President Donald Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion in Chinese imports, tacking more medical supplies on the list. And the administration is threatening to hike the current 25 percent tariff on $250 billion in Chinese imports to a 30 percent tariff on Oct. 1.
The products affected by the tariffs are used daily in physician offices, hospitals, pharmacies and by consumers at home, according to DealMed President Michael Einhorn.
"Think of products like gauze that are in Band-Aids. Think of other products like medical gloves," Mr. Einhorn told Yahoo Finance. "Those products will be somewhat affected, somewhere between 10 percent and 25 percent.
"When you throw tariffs into the mix, we're talking about potential shortages, we're talking about potential price increases — not only to hospitals and big healthcare systems, but also to the consumer at home," Mr. Einhorn said.
Read the full report here.