Tariffs on Medical Goods: Pass-through, Geography, and Aggregate Costs to the US Health-care System

Manho Kang, Xiangtao Meng, Katheryn N. Russ and James Waters

National Tax Journal, 2026, vol. 79, issue 1, 233 - 258

Abstract: Have recent tariffs resulted in increased costs for the US health-care system? We examine US trade data and compile a database of statutory tariff changes. Tariffs on medical goods narrowly defined resulted in $3.4 billion in duties assessed between February and July 2025 — more than 10 times the same period in 2024, with a 55.8 percent rate of pass-through at the US border. We estimate that had medical goods imports observed in 2024 been subject to the statutory tariff levels prevailing in August 2025, assessed duties would have been $15.8 billion, almost 30 times higher than those observed in real time.

Date: 2026
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