AdvaMed is lobbying for a US-British medtech partnership

U.S. medtech trade association AdvaMed and the Association of British HealthTech Industries are jointly calling for reciprocal “zero for zero” medical technology tariffs between the two countries.

In their joint statement released yesterday, AdvaMed and the ABHI said: “This would allow our industry to continue to allocate its resources to the greatest benefit for patients and the health care systems, ensuring the quality, innovation and availability of our industry’s wide range of lifesaving and life-improving products.”

The two trade organizations are also urging continued efforts to create a regulatory system in which the U.K. accepts regulatory approvals and clearance from the U.S. FDA for medtech, a concept known as “regulatory convergence.”

The groups’ joint statement, released May 6, came days before the Trump administration announced a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement, though much still needs to be negotiated. The framework released by the White House mentioned “negotiating additional agreements, as appropriate, across certain industrial goods and [advancing] toward an agreement on services [and] domestic regulation.”

Closer trade ties with Britain are welcome news amid the Trump administration’s unpredictable tariffs and trade policy, presently centered on a major U.S.-China trade war. Advamed has been lobbying the administration for medtech tariff exemptions, similar to what the industry had during the first Trump administration’s trade war with China. The group has warned that tariffs could increase device costs and harm patients.

Advamed welcomes a U.S. pause on some tariffs in early April that reduced turmoil in financial markets. Still, major U.S. medtech companies have been reporting in their earnings reports that the tariffs will cost them this year: up to $300, million for Cardinal Health, $200 million for Stryker, $200 million for Boston Scientific, and a few hundred million dollars on a half-year basis for Abbott.

Medtech companies based outside the U.S. will have to pay a price, too. Dutch medtech giant Philips says tariffs between the U.S. and China (and the rest of the world) will have a €250–300 million impact this year. The largest British medtech — Smith+Nephew —expects a net impact of approximately $15 million to $20 million in 2025, based on announced measures and mitigations.

In their joint statement, AdvaMed and the ABHI noted that the U.S. is the largest medtech market in the world and that the U.K. is the sixth largest (and the third largest in Europe). They went on to say:

“Recent trade tensions and the threat of tariffs are posing a serious threat to our respective health technology industries and to the health systems, health care professionals and patients who depend on us to ensure timely access to treatment. Our industry is also unique in that, unlike most products that are paid for directly by consumers, our largest payors are the governments themselves through their health care systems. Any national revenue raised through tariffs could be offset by higher costs to the taxpayers who fund those programs. Furthermore, medtech companies often operate in a generally fixed-reimbursement environment through multi-year contracts established with the tens of thousands of hospitals and clinics across the United States and the United Kingdom.”

This story originally ran on May 7, 2025. Updated May 9 with news of a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement.