The US Commerce Department disclosed on September 24, 2025 that new “Section 232” investigations into the import of personal protective equipment, medical items, robotics and industrial machinery were opened on September 2, 2025 but not previously disclosed.
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Understanding Section 232 Investigations
These Section 232 investigations could be used as a basis for establishing tariffs on a wide swath of medical and industrial goods including imported face masks, syringes and infusion pumps, as well as for robotics and industrial machinery like programmable computer-controlled mechanical systems and industrial stamping and pressing machines.
Once the final Public Disclosure is published at the Federal Register, companies will be asked to detail projected demand for robotics and industrial machinery and the extent to which “domestic production of robotics and industrial machinery, and their parts and components can meet domestic demand,” as well as the role of foreign supply chains in meeting US demand.
The US Commerce Department is particularly interested in the role of major exporters like China in meeting US medical needs and the “impact of foreign government subsidies and predatory trade practices.”
For more information, visit the Federal Register.
Federal Register: Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Personal Protective Equipment, Medical Consumables, and Medical Equipment, Including Devices
AdvaMed Statement on Commerce Department Section 232 National Security Investigation (September 25, 2025)
WASHINGTON—AdvaMed, the MedTech Association, released the following statement from President and CEO Scott Whitaker on the Administration’s announcement of its investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act into whether the U.S.’s current level of medtech imports has national security implications:
“Our industry is a uniquely American manufacturing success story and leads the world in medical innovation, providing American hospitals, doctors’ offices, and patients the highest-quality medical technologies in the world. Seventy percent of the medical products that American hospitals and patients rely on are made in America across thousands of manufacturing facilities in all 50 states. Additionally, since 2019 medtech jobs have grown at three times the average manufacturing job rate, thanks in large part to sound tax policies, such as the OBBB, the TCJA, and the medical device tax repeal. We look forward to continuing our work with the Administration, including through the Commerce department’s investigation, to strengthen our already-robust and uniquely American industry. We believe this process will reinforce the fact that U.S. medtech manufacturing is strong and lower tariffs will fuel more manufacturing and job growth in the U.S., which means greater access to lifesaving technologies and lower costs to American hospitals and patients.”
For more on U.S. leadership in medtech manufacturing and innovation, please see our fact sheet.