“It’s not just the impact of the cost themselves, it’s the impact of the uncertainty and the volatility that they have to contend with,” said Carlos Lopez, senior vice president, general counsel at ChromaDex. “I think sitting here today, we don’t know whether the current tariffs are going to be in place for weeks, months or longer. Are they going to be increased? I’ve also heard stories that there are negotiations going on, so there may be trade deals to eliminate the tariffs.”
“Companies exposed to a global supply chain have to make some important, expensive, long-term decisions with very limited information in the current climate,” he added.
This climate, for many, involves multiple countries. While the goal of these tariffs aims to bring more jobs back to the United States, many point out domestic ingredient procurement is not always an option.
Saumil Maheshvari, senior vice president of business development at Orgenetics, said he hopes that the administration looks at the overall perspective because some of these crops, for example, cannot be grown in America.
“I mean, they’re tropical climate crops,” he said. “Hawaii is just not an option because of how much limited land mass is in Hawaii. So for us, we’d have to get them from East Africa or India, and so that’s kind of a limitation.
“I hope that the current administration takes a look at overall that perspective, that it’s just sometimes not biologically or physically possible to do that.”
Given the tariffs and many American businesses’ reliance on sourcing ingredients from countries like China and India, some industry players say the repercussions from tariffs may involve American consumers missing out on beneficial products. They urged policymakers to consider the broader implications of these trade policies on public health and the ingredients that cannot be domestically sourced.
Graham Rigby, president and CEO of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), noted that companies should work with trade associations like AHPA to understand the impacts of the tariffs and share the categories of imported goods so AHPA and other associations can try to raise awareness and perhaps influence the administration, “which has a really strong passion for health and wellness and the support of the supplement industry,” he said. “We just need to let them know the impact that the tariffs and other things are having on the industry.”
Many trades and experts we spoke with emphasized the need for companies to engage with policymakers, advocating for themselves and working with trade associations to share their concerns. But for many companies, time is money.
“I can tell you that I’m not the only one in this position, a lot of people are on a wait-and-see [basis],” said Benoit Turpin, CEO at Valecor. “Sadly enough, there are some smaller size businesses that are majorly impacted, and for them, if this situation drags on for quite a bit, it’s going to be a matter of survival.”
