The level of tumult in the business environment under the Trump administration is also new. Dan Auble, senior researcher specializing in lobbying data at OpenSecrets, said instances of lobbying reports mentioning tariffs across industries “have kind of exploded” in the first quarter.
Estimates suggest tariffs may cost public medtech firms billions of dollars. Workforce reductions at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also threaten to slow down medical device review processes companies depend on to set their financial outlook.
During a May 21 call with investors, Medtronic executives said tariffs may cost the company up to $350 million.
Earlier this year, Boston Scientific said tariffs could cost up to $200 million in 2025. In late May, following productive trade talks between the United States and the European Union, CEO Mike Mahoney, speaking at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, clarified that the tariff impact “is certainly a better situation than [where] we were when we gave our first quarter report.”
Abbott Laboratories, the Chicagoland-based maker of COVID-19 tests and medical devices, said tariffs might cost hundreds of millions of dollars over six months. Federal disclosures reveal Abbott boosted its federal lobbying budget by $410,000 to $2.32 million.
AdvaMed, the powerful medtech trade group, also spent an additional $12,000 for the first quarter over the prior year. In May, AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker testified to the Senate Finance Committee, calling for medtech tariff exemptions.
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