(Reuters) – Medical products maker Smith+Nephew’s wound business will take a hit from U.S. tariffs on imports from China, as the British company has “significant” manufacturing in the Asian country for that division, its CEO said on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has pushed for more American made products, proposing higher tariffs on everything from steel to pharmaceuticals. His levies on Chinese imports and China’s retaliatory tariffs have escalated global trade tensions.
CEO Deepak Nath did not specify how much Smith+Nephew expects the hit from the tariffs to be but said that the company had planned for it.
“All of our scenario analysis we’ve done leads us to believe the realm of the impact will be within the realm of what we expect,” Nath said on a conference call with analysts after its after annual results.
Smith+Nephew makes orthopaedic implants and prosthetics, along with wound dressings and other surgical aids. The company’s wounds business makes devices, dressings, and topical products to heal and prevent difficult-to-treat injuries.
Its wound business contributed about 29% of overall sales in 2024. The company’s 2023 annual report showed that one of its “major” manufacturing sites for the division was in Suzhou, China.
Nath said that the company was “reasonably well covered” on supplies in the United States as the largest proportion of its business in the country was served through domestic plants.
China accounts for about 5% of overall sales, while the United States accounts for more than half. Smith+Nephew has also been hit by weak demand in China, but a recovery in the U.S., helped by strategy shifts, is alleviating some fears.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
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