The Council for Responsible Nutrition noted that tariffs Trump imposed on dietary ingredients and other food imports from China not only remained in effect but were maintained and in some cases expanded under Biden. In May 2024, the Biden administration increased tariffs on various Chinese imports, including certain food and dietary supplement ingredients.

Some dietary ingredients are exempted from tariffs such as pure vitamins, vitamins B and C for instance. The CRN says those have 0% duty most likely because China produces around 98.5% of the global supply and the US recognizes there is no viable alternative.

Still, the nutraceutical industry is particularly impacted by tariffs on Chinese products because around 75% to 80% of nutraceutical products can be sourced from China and many have no other geographical source of supply. The Chinese manufacturers have cornered the market on many of these ingredients, the CRN says.

Current tariff rates on nutraceutical raw materials range from 0% to 25%; ingredients such as agricultural products are subject to 10% to 25% tariffs.

The trade group points out, though, that supplement firms have addressed the impact of new or higher tariffs by absorbing the costs without price increases to the consumer eroding their margins; increasing prices where they have to pass along costs; or identifying, qualifying and sourcing ingredients from alternate suppliers outside of China if possible.

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