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MITA - Exclude medical imaging devices from China Section 301 tariffs

Press releases may be edited for formatting or style | October 27, 2021 Business Affairs
Washington, D.C – The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) – the leading trade association representing manufacturers of medical imaging equipment, radiopharmaceuticals, contrast media, and focused ultrasound therapeutic devices – has sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai stressing the importance of exempting medical imaging devices from Section 301 tariffs as the Administration restarts the tariff exclusion process. MITA warns Section 301 tariffs have negatively impacted the manufacturing of medical devices since they were first implemented in 2018.

"Despite intending to encourage and promote U.S. manufacturing, Section 301 tariffs, in practice, have not incentivized the production of these needed components in the United States. These tariffs have hurt domestic manufacturing of products essential to the hospitals and patients we serve, especially as we also face increased supply chain challenges and demand due to COVID-19," MITA Executive Director Patrick Hope writes to Ambassador Tai.

Specifically, MITA underscores that medical imaging equipment should not be subject to additional tariffs for the following reasons:

Imaging devices are a humanitarian good: Medical devices are central to global health. Subjecting these devices to additional tariffs risks disruptions in trade flows and increased costs that could block patient access to care. This is particularly dangerous considering supply chain issues and capacity concerns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tariffs on imaging equipment do not achieve desired outcomes: The market access challenges the medical device sector has experienced are primarily due to procurement and investment limitations, not tariffs.

In closing, MITA states, "Additional tariffs on medical imaging devices not only distort beneficial trade flows but perversely disincentive U.S. manufacturing, a key priority of the President Biden Administration."


About MITA
MITA is the collective voice of manufacturers of medical imaging equipment, radiopharmaceuticals, contrast media, and focused ultrasound therapeutic devices. It represents companies whose sales comprise more than 90 percent of the global market for medical imaging innovations. These products include: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), medical X-Ray equipment, computed tomography (CT) scanners, ultrasound, nuclear imaging, radiopharmaceuticals, and imaging information systems. MITA Member company technologies are an important part of our nation's healthcare infrastructure and are essential for the screening, diagnosis, staging, managing and effectively treating patients with cancer, heart disease, neurological degeneration, and numerous other medical conditions.

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