Chinese radiology vendors dodge high tariffs with US-based factories

Chinese companies have faced U.S. tariffs on their products since President Trump's first term, which were continued through the Biden administration. Higher tariffs were expected under a second Trump run, prompting some Chinese radiology companies to establish manufacturing sites in America. This may be paying off for some, as tariffs against Chinese goods have now risen to 145%. 

Trump placed a 20% tariff on Chinese goods prior to April. On April 9, he issued an executive order updating the tariff on Chinese goods to another 125%, for a total of 145%. But during his first presidency, Trump told Chinese companies if they did not like U.S. tariffs, they should build their factories in the States, and several took him up on that offer.

The biggest among them is United Imaging, a large China-based medical imaging system manufacturer that has worked the past several years to enter the U.S. radiology market by offering less expensive high-end systems to compete against the dominant players GE HealthCare, Philips and Siemens Healthineers. United also has gained new customers, with its business model to make the cost of ownership more accessible via perks such as free software upgrades for life and all-in imaging system configurations, rather than "nickel and diming customers," the company said.

"Since early in our 14-year history, our goal has been to move manufacturing into the U.S., which we have been doing steadily, leading us to recently announce the tripling of our production space in Houston, Texas," United Imaging said in a statement to Radiology Business. "This enables us to support our U.S. customers effectively and will help us manage cost fluctuations in the external environment."

The company said this is part of its long-term strategy to diversify its supply chain and to manufacture close to the markets its serves, especially the U.S., but also with expansion of operations in China and Europe. Its Texas factory opened in 2020 to produce all categories of imaging equipment they sell in the U.S.

"These prior and ongoing actions have allowed us to honor all pricing and signed contracts. We do not believe a price change is necessary at this point, and will continue to monitor developments with the goal to minimize impacts on our customers," United Imaging said.

Business has gone well for United Imaging, as the company announced in January 2025 it was more than tripling the square footage of its production space in Pearland, Texas, in the greater Houston area.

"United Imaging has been steadily increasing U.S. production, with products in all four imaging modalities it currently sells, achieving local production in Texas over the last four years. All critical spare parts are already stored in Houston and in stocking locations across the country, the company said in a press release in January, but reiterated this past week in its statement to Radiology Business.

The company said its is attempting to limit supply chain disruptions, control costs, ensure quality and improve time-to-market through the vertical integration of its manufacturing processes.

"We are well-prepared given our existing U.S. presence, our stocked parts here, and our high degree of vertical integration. We have considered a range of scenarios, and are closely monitoring developments so we can continue to make decisions that are in the best interest of the customers and patients we serve," United Imaging said. 

Other Chinese radiology vendors doing business in the U.S.

There were 64 booths for Chinese imaging companies that attended the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting at the end of 2024. Many of these companies do not have U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for their products, but have regulatory clearance in large numbers of other countries. They exhibit at RSNA because it attracts over 50,000 attendees from more than 145 countries.

Chinese vendors that do have U.S. approvals and have a foothold in the U.S. imaging market include United Imaging, which had by far the largest footprint at RSNA of all these companies. Others at RSNA included Neusoft Medical Systems, Chison Medical Technologies, iRay, SonoScape, and Leapmed Healthcare. Most of these Chinese companies have moved some R&D and production into the U.S.

IRay is based in Shanghai, China, and has a production facility in Cleveland, Ohio. The company manufactures key X-ray system components, including amorphous silicon (a-Si) to oxide TFT detectors. Its products include flexible substrate detectors to prevent damage when a digital X-ray plate is dropped. It also produces photon-counting detectors.

MinFound, which makes CT, MRI, X-ray and PET-CT systems, has operations in 70 countries and a subsidiary, FMI Medical Systems Inc., located in Solon, Ohio. The company says it plans to establish manufacturing operations in the U.S. for producing imaging systems to sell to the global market.

Leapmed Healthcare makes biopsy needles, drainage catheter kits and puncture needles for thyroid cytology biopsy, amniocentesis and chorionic villus puncture. It built a U.S. production facility in 2019. The vendor says its products are used by Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins and other top general hospitals in the U.S.

Ultrasound and endoscope maker SonoScape Medical has sales operations in the United States, and established R&D centers in San Francisco and Seattle.

Vital Group / Alltech Medical makes MRI, CT digital X-ray, ultrasound and PET-MR systems and exports to the U.S. It has an R&D center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Time Medical Systems is a spinoff from research at Columbia University and develops MRI technology, including an 11.7T MRI system. RSNA 2024 was the first time it exhibited its FDA-cleared neonate MRI system, which gained interest from numerous U.S. children's hospitals that visited the booth. The company has R&D and sales offices in the U.S. and has a research collaboration with Brigham Mass General.

Other China-based radiology companies are original equipment manufacturers (OEM) that build imaging components, entire imaging systems and contrast injectors for larger vendors in the U.S. For example, RSNA exhibitor Apollo RT collaborates with Canon Medical Systems, Fujifilm Healthcare Solutions, Neusoft, Philips Healthcare and United Imaging for its high pressure contrast injection system.

Oftentimes, companies do not want to discuss bad news, so the true impact from U.S. tariffs may not be fully known until RSNA 2025. It will be telling to see how many of these vendors return, or if they downsize their booths.