Trouble with Tariffs?
On Thursday, Sept. 25, President Trump announced 100% tariffs on some imported brand-name drugs starting October 1, unless manufacturers build U.S. plants to boost domestic production.
As this new tariff policy is enacted, it may have an adverse impact on pharmaceutical companies by increasing the cost of importing raw materials, drug substances and drug products, or packaging components. These uncertainties introduce financial risk and supply chain disruption at a time when cost control and reliability are critical. To maintain control of their costs and materials, companies can utilize MRIGlobal’s foreign-trade zone (FTZ). A FTZ is an approved space within U.S. borders where foreign merchandise is securely held.
Benefits of utilizing MRIGlobal’s foreign-trade zone (FTZ) include:
- Avoid Delays to Clinical Trials: Strained supply chains run the risk of products being held longer than necessary. Customers beginning clinical trials can avoid this headache by shipping drug substance (API) and/or drug products to us, which we will hold in our secure and climate-controlled FTZ while awaiting approval of their Investigational New Drug (IND) application by the FDA. After it is approved, that product will be ready for prompt importation and distribution.
- Defer Duty Payments: Customers can control immediate financial impacts by choosing to pay the duty when foreign merchandise is admitted to the FTZ, or defer the duty until the material is imported into the U.S.
- Avoid Duties: Materials can be brought into the U.S. and securely stored in the FTZ indefinitely until they’re needed. If the material is not needed in the U.S., but instead transferred to another country, it will not be subject to U.S. duties. By avoiding U.S. duties, customers utilizing the FTZ can maintain control of their material while reducing their costs.
- Accelerate Testing Timelines: MRIGlobal’s pharmaceutical analysis laboratories are within the FTZ, so the materials can be tested by our expert team without ever being imported into the U.S. Customers can accelerate the progress of their drug development timelines by making use of the ability for us to perform research on materials within the FTZ.
- cGMP Compliance: The FTZ is located in the same secure, cGMP-validated facility as the MRIGlobal pharmaceutical repository, stability facility, and biospecimen repository.
- The facility is fully staffed with experts in materials management (e.g., receipt, storage, and distribution).
- It is climate-controlled at all conditions and can be leveraged to maintain the integrity of materials in our secure cGMP facility.
MRIGlobal customers who need reliability of storage, international distribution, or testing of their research materials without importation into the U.S. can use our Foreign-Trade Zone. When the timing is right, customers can choose to import these goods into the U.S. or have them shipped to another country.
This distinctive offering is appealing to customers across the industry. Our combination of offerings is exceptionally unique, providing customers the opportunity to have their needs met by a single service provider.
u003cimg class=u0022alignright wp-image-4611 size-thumbnailu0022 src=u0022/wp-content/uploads/Michael-Suderman-150×150.jpgu0022 alt=u0022u0022 width=u0022150u0022 height=u0022150u0022 /u003eContact us today to explore how our FTZ capabilities can reduce your cost burden and protect your operations from tariff-related disruptions. For more information about our Foreign-Trade Zone and its benefits, contact Michael Suderman at u003ca href=u0022mailto:msuderman@mriglobal.orgu0022u003emsuderman@mriglobal.orgu003c/au003e.