On April 2, President Donald Trump declared that “foreign trade and economic practices have created a national emergency.” His executive order imposes responsive tariffs to “strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers.”
Under the order, Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on all countries effective April 5. There will also be an “individualized reciprocal higher tariff” on the countries with which the United States has the largest trade deficits effective April 9. The tariffs will remain in effect until Trump determines the trade deficit is “satisfied, resolved or mitigated.”
As reported by Newsweek, the reciprocal tariff rates include 34 percent for China, 20 percent for the European Union, 26 percent for India, 24 percent for Japan, 25 percent for South Korea, 46 percent for Vietnam and 49 percent for Cambodia.
Stock markets reeled with the news of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, sparking the worst week for stocks since 2020. On April 7, U.S. stocks turned lower again, seeing roller-coaster trading as mixed signals about the tariffs brought major reversals, from losses to gains to losses.
Yet, some dietary supplement ingredients have been spared, such as vitamins A, C and E, some B vitamins and fatty acids of animal or vegetable origin, according to the 37-page Annex II for the executive order.
“We are truly thankful for President Trump’s thoughtful and industry-focused approach throughout the tariff process,” said Daniel Fabricant, PhD, president and CEO of the Natural Products Association (NPA). “His administration’s willingness to listen and act on our concerns is a testament to their dedication to both public health and economic stability. We are excited to continue collaborating with this administration to prevent any supply chain disruptions and to explore innovative solutions, like reshoring, that will strengthen our industry and create American jobs—priorities that reflect the president’s vision for our great nation.”
ACI Group, a specialty ingredient supplier based in the United Kingdom, urged businesses to adopt a proactive approach to the supply chain challenges posed by the tariffs. ACI Group CEO Karsten Smet said “wait and see” isn’t an option anymore, stating the United States has essentially “turned millions of supply chain routes into toll roads.”
“My view is that the most damaging aspect of all this is the uncertainty. Trump has made it clear that these tariffs are subject to change depending on the outcome of trade negotiations, so they could be cancelled or revised up or down in a matter of days,” Smet said. “Contingency plans like new supply chain routes and using double or triple sourcing are no longer just nice to have, they’re essential.”
According to Dan Richard, vice president of global sales and marketing at NOW Health Group (Bloomingdale, IL), tariffs are bad for consumers who will have to pay higher prices and bad for business who have little to no time to prepare. There is also a lot of uncertainty.
“Higher costs will be passed to consumers sooner or later. Because some of these tariffs are quite high, brands and importers can’t absorb all of these costs, especially on larger margin products,” Richard said. “It has been challenging to just digest the various layers of tariffs, since products from China, especially, have had multiple hits and we still don’t know the end result yet.”
Richard added preparations have been challenging. NOW had advance warning, but no one was sure “whether Trump was bluffing or would change his mind.”
“NOW has stocked up inventories recently in general as much as possible, but natural products don’t last forever and it doesn’t make sense to stock years’ worth of inventory,” Richard said. “We have actively been working with our vendors on supply options. We’re also very relieved that most supplement volumes (letter vitamins, amino acids, minerals, CoQ10….) have not been affected as much.”
