The terms onshoring and nearshoring mean moving manufacturing closer to a company’s main office or main markets. This helps reduce risks linked to making products far away. For medical devices, onshoring means making them inside the United States or nearby areas. Nearshoring means making them in neighboring countries, usually in North America, like Mexico or Canada.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed how fragile global medical supply chains can be. From 2020 to 2022, many problems happened because factories closed, shipping was delayed, borders were shut, and some key parts were hard to find. A study by Deloitte found that 60% of manufacturers had big problems with how long products took and if they were available. For medical device makers and healthcare providers, this meant essential equipment came late, which affected patient care and made costs go up.
The pandemic and trade tensions like the US-China trade war showed that relying on faraway factories—often to save money—can be risky. Because of this, many medical device companies and healthcare groups are choosing onshoring and nearshoring to bring manufacturing closer to where the care happens.
Tariffs on medical device parts and finished products got higher because of worse trade relations between the US and China. Since early 2025, tariffs on medical goods from China went up from 10% to as much as 20%. This makes costs go up for companies that depend on imported parts. There are also tariffs of 25% on parts from Canada and Mexico. This makes trading and supply shopping with close North American countries more difficult.
Higher tariffs make production more expensive, and manufacturers might raise prices for their customers. This can hurt healthcare budgets and make medical tools less affordable for patients. Also, delays caused by tariffs can lead to shortages, which can make it hard for hospitals to provide care.
To fight these risks, companies are told to buy from many different suppliers in various places. This way, they are not stuck relying on one country. When combined with onshoring and nearshoring, this helps control costs and reduce risks, making supply chains stronger.
For medical offices and clinics in the U.S., having medical devices when needed is very important for smooth operations and good patient care. Onshoring and nearshoring help avoid risks from politics, tariffs, and shipping delays that can happen with faraway factories. Here are some ways these methods help healthcare groups:
New technology, especially digital manufacturing and AI, has made onshoring and nearshoring easier in the last few years. Medical Extrusion Technologies Inc. says automation and AI have cut lead times by up to half. This lowers costs and allows fast testing and flexible production. Digital tools help makers quickly change how much they make and the device design to fit healthcare needs.
AI creates real-time data that lets manufacturers check quality, guess demand, and plan delivery paths better. These tools help make devices more precise and follow rules closely, reducing mistakes.
AI helps not just with making devices but also with these supply chain tasks:
Altogether, these new tools make it cheaper and easier to make medical devices closer to U.S. healthcare places. This supports stronger supply chains while keeping costs reasonable.
The U.S. government has several policies and funding programs to help grow domestic manufacturing and make supply chains safer. Laws like the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act add up to more than $200 billion in support since 2022.
These programs promote investment in:
Since medical devices must meet strict FDA rules, onshoring fits well with government goals to improve quality control in all production steps.
Other countries give useful examples for U.S. healthcare administrators worried about supply chain reliability. Japan has worked hard to bring manufacturing closer and reduce dependence on China, especially for medical devices. From 2020 to 2022, Japan’s government funded 439 onshoring projects including healthcare devices.
Japan made agreements with nearby countries like those in ASEAN and gave subsidies to help smaller companies grow along with bigger ones. This shows the value of having many different suppliers working together.
U.S. healthcare groups can learn from these international examples to balance cost, quality, and supply security in a complex world.
Artificial intelligence is no longer just an idea; it plays a big role in running complex healthcare supply chains for medical devices. AI tools help U.S. healthcare leaders predict problems, manage inventory better, and coordinate suppliers.
By using AI and automation together, medical practice leaders in the U.S. can reduce uncertainties from global sourcing and better use onshoring and nearshoring benefits.
U.S. healthcare groups wanting to improve their medical device supply chains can take these steps, based on current research and practice:
By using these ideas, U.S. medical offices can handle growing supply chain challenges and keep patient care steady.
Supply chain methods and technology like AI continue to change. This should help make the U.S. medical device sector stronger. Onshoring and nearshoring offer useful ways to respond to rising tariffs, political uncertainty, and problems caused by the pandemic. Healthcare leaders in the U.S. need to understand these changes to keep their services working well in a more complex world.
The main challenges include increased manufacturing costs from tariffs on imported materials, reliance on specific regions for components, and potential supply chain disruptions that affect production and patient care.
Tariffs lead to higher production costs as raw materials and components become more expensive. These costs may be passed on to healthcare providers and patients, impacting affordability and access to medical devices.
The US-China trade war has resulted in extensive tariffs on medical device components and finished products, complicating sourcing and increasing costs for manufacturers reliant on Chinese imports.
Companies can diversify their supplier base by sourcing materials and components from multiple regions to avoid dependency on any single country, thus enhancing production resilience against trade disruptions.
Onshoring involves relocating production closer to primary markets within the same country, while nearshoring means sourcing from nearby countries. Both strategies aim to minimize tariff exposure and improve operational control.
Advocacy allows companies to engage with industry groups and policymakers to push for tariff exemptions and favorable trade policies, helping to shape decisions that directly affect their supply chains.
Continuous monitoring of tariff changes allows companies to make proactive adjustments to their supply chain strategies, minimizing potential risks and ensuring stability amid evolving trade environments.
AI-powered solutions like Everstream Explore can provide advanced notice of tariff changes and other supply chain factors, allowing manufacturers to make informed, proactive decisions to maintain supply chain stability.
Understanding the supply chain structure enables companies to identify dependencies and risks associated with Tier-1 and sub-tier suppliers, helping to develop strategies for mitigating vulnerability to tariff impacts.
Companies should assess their supply chain dependencies, invest in monitoring tools for tariff changes, and be prepared to engage alternative suppliers to efficiently handle any disruptions that arise.
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