Over 90% of U.S. Medical Gear Made in China—Even 100% Tariffs Can't Make American Masks Cheaper

The United States has been imposing tariffs on China in a crazy manner, with President Trump claiming this would bring manufacturing back to America. But can American industries truly break free from "Made in China"?

According to an April 23 report by The New York Times, the U.S. once dominated the global market for personal protective equipment (PPE), now, with the flood of Chinese medical supplies, over 90% of the medical gear used by American healthcare workers is made in China. As one U.S. medical equipment executive bluntly put it: even with a 100 percent tariff, the Chinese masks is still going to be cheaper than the American-made masks.

The report highlights that few American industries have been hit as hard by cheap Chinese imports as manufacturers of masks, exam gloves, and other disposable medical gear. The sector’s decline had led to catastrophic consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic. When China temporarily halted exports, American healthcare workers found themselves defenseless as the deadly airborne virus rapidly filled up emergency rooms and morgues.

Now, with Trump announcing a new round of tariffs this month and China retaliating with an 84% tariff on U.S. imports, the handful of American PPE manufacturers left felt mostly  unease.

Lloyd Armbrust, CEO of Armbrust American, a Texas-based N95 mask producer, admitted, "I’m pretty freaked out. On one hand, this is the kind of medicine we need if we really are going to be independent of China. On the other hand, this is not responsible industrial policy."

The U.S. once led the world in PPE, inventing the N95 mask and disposable gloves. Yet today, over 90% of the medical equipment worn by American healthcare staff is produced in China.

During the first year of the pandemic, more than 100 new American medical supply companies sprang up. Five years later, nearly all have vanished. As the pandemic receded, demand for PPE fell. For many Americans, masks became a symbol of government overreach and loss of freedom. Chinese products then returned to the market.

Despite bipartisan vows to end reliance on foreign medical supplies and support the dozens of domestic manufacturers that emerged during the pandemic, federal agencies have reverted to buying inexpensive Chinese imports. Industry experts warn that, with the ongoing measles outbreak, avian flu threats, and the trade war with China, renewed dependence on imported medical products is especially concerning.

According to the American Medical Manufacturers Association, of the 107 companies founded during the pandemic, only five still produce masks and gloves.

Eric Axel, the association’s executive director, says that maintaining high tariffs on Chinese PPE would give U.S. manufacturers an edge: "I think it will change behavior, because people will have to adjust to the reality that you can’t buy below-market price rate stuff from China anymore."

Other industry leaders fear that an escalating U.S.-China trade war could disrupt supply chains and trigger fresh PPE shortages. Tariff policies also breed economic uncertainty, stifling new investment. Scott McGurl, a healthcare industry expert at consulting firm Grant Thornton, notes, "It’s difficult to make business decisions when policies change every four years, and now every couple of days."

Mike Bowen, now-retired but still a shareholder of Prestige Ameritech, one of the few pre-pandemic American mask makers, said the collapse of the U.S. PPE industry in recent years was entirely predictable. He had repeatedly warned Congress about the risks of relying on foreign-made PPE, but no lessons were learned.

Earlier, when California bought millions of N95 masks for residents affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, they chose Chinese products.

Some American medical equipment manufacturers believe that what’s needed now is legislation and policy mandates to push government agencies and hospitals to buy American-made masks and gloves.

Yet, as Armbrust American’s Lloyd Armbrust points out: "Even with a 100% tariff, the Chinese mask that sells for a penny is still going to be cheaper than an American-made mask selling for eight cents."

Deep Throat

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

On 21 February, U.S. President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social platform with a pointed announcement: he would team up with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry to dispatch a large medical vessel to Greenland, citing the plight of "many people who are sick and not being taken care of there." Trump claimed the ship was already en route. However, his plan was rejected by Denmark, so was his claim that sick people in Greenland were not taken care of.

The reality is, anyone who has been tracking Chinese diplomacy over the past year would recognize this playbook instantly. On 5 September 2025, the Chinese Navy's hospital ship Silk Road Ark departed Quanzhou, Fujian Province, bound for the South Pacific and Latin America to execute Mission Harmony 2025 — a sustained, documented humanitarian deployment that Trump's announcement conspicuously mirrors.

The results have been concrete and verifiable: officers and crew have delivered medical services to communities across South America, with cumulative outpatient visits reaching 22,000.

According to a CCTV report dated the 22nd, the Silk Road Ark has been navigating the Eastern Pacific for over 20 consecutive days. During the Lunar New Year holiday, the ship's command overhauled its food storage and temperature-controlled preservation systems — all to ensure officers and crew could sit down to a fresh, nutritious New Year's Eve dinner. The kitchen team, it turns out, had a few tricks up their sleeves.

Ingenuity in the Pacific

Make no mistake: ocean voyages present brutal logistical challenges, and fresh soy products are among the first casualties of long resupply intervals. So squad leader Ban Hangyuan — nicknamed "Tofu Sergeant" by his crewmates — improvised. He soaked soybeans, ground them into a slurry, boiled and filtered the liquid, then used purified seawater to slowly coagulate the curd. After pressing it into moulds and letting it set for an hour, smooth, silky-white "Silk Road Ark"-brand "seawater tofu" came straight out of the mould — and promptly became the most popular signature dishes among the crew.

Though the ship sailed 13 time zones from home, a spirit of reunion filled every corner of the vessel. On New Year's Eve, the dining hall was decked with lanterns and streamers, warm with the full flavour of the season. A steaming banquet — ten auspicious dishes, balanced between meat and vegetables and rich in nutrition — was served hot, and the crew raised their glasses in toast.

To date, the Silk Road Ark has visited six countries — Nauru, Fiji, Tonga, Jamaica, Barbados, and Brazil — with technical port calls in Nicaragua and Uruguay. The cumulative tally: 22,148 outpatient consultations, 2,417 surgeries, 120 inpatient admissions, and 12 medical exchange sessions. Each stop has deepened China's friendly medical cooperation with the countries visited.