The U.S. Department of Commerce is reviewing the national security implications of imported personal protective equipment, medical items, robotics, and industrial machinery.
According to a notice to be published on Sept. 26, the Commerce Department had launched a Section 232 investigation on Sept. 2 into a wide range of health care-related products. The review will determine whether protective tariffs or quotas should be imposed on goods such as surgical masks, syringes, intravenous bags, pacemakers, wheelchairs, and hospital beds.
The probe also extends to pacemakers, insulin pumps, coronary stents, heart valves, hearing aids, prosthetics, blood glucose monitors, orthopedic devices, CT scanners, and MRI machines….