AMMA Praises Trump Admin. for Finalizing Forced-Labor Tariffs on Leading Global PPE and Critical Medical Supply Makers

USTR's final Section 301 action delivers on years of AMMA advocacy, imposing 10% - 12.5% tariffs on China, Vietnam, Thailand, and major medical-supply exporters

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, July 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The American Medical Manufacturers Association (AMMA) today thanked President Trump, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, and the U.S. Trade Representative's office for finalizing sweeping new Section 301 tariffs on 60 trading partners that have failed to ban or enforce prohibitions on goods made with forced labor. This is a long-sought victory for domestic PPE manufacturers that have competed for years against artificially cheap, forced-labor-tainted imports.

The final action, announced July 23 and effective at 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, imposes an additional 10% tariff on economies that have adopted or committed to a forced-labor import ban, and 12.5% on those that have not. It replaces the administration's temporary 10% global tariff and covers roughly 99.4% of U.S. imports, according to the USTR fact sheet.

"Foreign governments and their state-backed manufacturers have spent years rigging the market for medical supplies against American workers and American companies. This final action by the USTR and Administration proves that Washington was listening," said Tom Allen, President of AMMA and CEO of Altor Safety, a New York-based PPE manufacturer.

"Our members have built U.S. plants that can grow to manufacture tens of billions of units a year under fair, legal, and humane working conditions. This is the moment to put that capacity to work," Allen added.

"American medical manufacturers have never asked for a handout. We just want a fair fight," said Eric Axel, Executive Director of AMMA. "Global competitors relied on coerced labor to undercut companies like ours that pay fair wages, meet rigorous safety standards, and invest in their communities. President Trump and Ambassador Greer have taken the most consequential step in years to close that gap, and AMMA is grateful for their leadership."

For the PPE and critical medical supply sector, the tariffs land squarely on the countries AMMA has flagged for years as the source of the market's worst distortions.

- China, the dominant supplier of N95 respirators, surgical masks, and a major source of nitrile gloves, faces the higher 12.5% rate.
- Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines, which are hubs for gowns, isolation apparel, meltblown textiles, and glove production as well as nations that collaborated with China as US trade pressure increased, will also face the 12.5% rate.
- Cambodia, Indonesia, India, and Malaysia, which have adopted or committed to forced-labor import bans, will see the lower 10% rate.

AMMA noted that its members already operate U.S. plants capable of producing billions of gloves, masks, respirators, gowns, needles, and syringes annually, with capacity that can scale quickly once buyers and policymakers send a clear demand signal.  AMMA noted one member's 215-acre domestic glove campus, currently producing 200 million gloves a month and capable of ramping to 1.6 billion a month, as proof that American capacity is real, built, and ready.

AMMA has consistently noted three main themes in its advocacy.

Real, underused U.S. capacity: AMMA members can already produce about 4.8 billion nitrile gloves per year, scalable to more than 31 billion, plus billions of masks, hundreds of millions of respirators and gowns, and at least 3 billion needles and syringes.

Human‑rights risk in PPE supply chains: An estimated 28 million people are trapped in forced labor worldwide, generating nearly 64 billion dollars a year in illegal profits for goods, including PPE, shipped into U.S. markets.

Dangerous National Security Risks in the dependence on a few countries: The United States imports roughly 80 to 90 percent of its PPE, and in 2024, more than 87 percent of medical glove imports came from just three countries, with one country alone projected to provide 65 to 70 percent of U.S. medical glove imports by the end of 2025.

AMMA said it will now turn its attention to ensuring the tariffs deliver their full intended benefit for domestic manufacturers, including:

- Pressing USTR to close the proposed "Textile Mechanism" loophole, which could allow reduced-tariff quotas for certain apparel-category goods to persist;
- Advocating for CMS payment adjustments that reward domestic sourcing;
- Pushing for stronger Buy American procurement mandates; and
- Securing long-term federal stockpile contracts that give manufacturers the certainty to invest and expand.

"These tariffs are a milestone, not a finish line," Axel added. "We will keep working with this Administration to make sure hospitals, health systems, and the federal government back these new trade protections with real purchasing commitments to reliable, American-made PPE."

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About AMMA


The American Medical Manufacturers Association (AMMA) is an alliance of domestic makers of critical medical supplies, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) manufacturers, and partners dedicated to transforming the landscape of American innovation and manufacturing. AMMA’s mission is to ensure that the United States has consistent access to high-quality, U.S.-made PPE while actively working to create a more favorable environment for American innovation. AMMA fosters strategic partnerships, advocates for policy changes, and supports domestic producers. AMMA aims to catalyze a thriving ecosystem for medical manufacturing. www.AMMAUnited.org

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