From investing in new facilities to strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities, companies across the country are working to scale up their stateside operations — creating jobs, increasing resilience, and meeting rising consumer demand for dietary supplements and herbal wellness products made in the U.S.

But in a frustrating twist, many of these companies are being penalized for doing exactly what current U.S. trade policy seems intended to promote: investing in and expanding American manufacturing.

The issue? Tariffs on highly specialized manufacturing equipment.

Whether it’s a tea-packing machine that seals tens of thousands of herbal tea bags a day or a mechanical harvester designed to efficiently process delicate botanicals, the equipment required to produce herbal products at scale is often unavailable from domestic sources. In fact, it stands to reason that a company based in the Mediterranean might be best equipped to engineer tools tailored for harvesting and processing Mediterranean herbs—and that is often the case.

Yet, when U.S. companies source this specialized machinery from a small group of global manufacturers, these essential tools often arrive at our borders burdened by steep import duties. In some cases, these tariffs add 50% or more to the cost of a single piece of equipment, making it significantly more expensive to build or improve facilities here at home. For companies managing capital expenditure budgets in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, that added cost isn’t just a line item — it can be a dealbreaker that delays or derails domestic investment entirely.

Delays, Detours, and Disincentives

These added costs aren’t just a budgeting headache. They’re delaying new projects, derailing planned facility buildouts, and forcing companies to rethink or reduce hiring. In some cases, they’re even pushing businesses to consider moving manufacturing offshore—a lose-lose scenario that undercuts American workers, weakens supply chains, and increases costs for consumers.

When the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) reached out to members about the impact of specialized equipment tariffs, the response was consistent and clear: these costs are getting in the way of growth and undermining the current U.S. trade policy goal of bringing manufacturing back home. Companies of all sizes and across different segments of the herbal industry shared how duties on essential tools are disrupting operations, limiting capacity, and discouraging long-term investment.

One U.S. herb farm secured a loan to purchase a mechanical harvester—the only one of its kind available globally—only to see tariffs push the final price beyond what the loan covered, putting the season’s entire harvest at risk. Another AHPA member working to expand its domestic blending and milling operations described the cost of importing needed equipment as “prohibitively expensive,” despite having already invested in a 140,000-square-foot facility to support U.S.-based production.

These are not isolated anecdotes. They reflect a broader, systemic issue that threatens the momentum of the domestic herbal manufacturing sector—a sector that, if properly supported, could deliver significant benefits to public health, rural economies, and American industry alike. Further, it’s crucial to recognize that most of the value and profit from these health products stays within the U.S. economy when they are made here. Any obstacle to domestic growth puts that economic benefit at risk.

A Call for Smart, Targeted Relief

This is not a call for sweeping trade reform or indiscriminate exemptions. What AHPA and its members are advocating for is a focused, common-sense policy adjustment: provide acute relief from tariffs on essential imported equipment in cases where there is no commercially viable, U.S.-made alternative.

That simple standard—equipment that isn’t made here—ensures that any tariff adjustment is rooted in practical need and aligned with national industrial priorities.

Targeted relief would help level the playing field for American herbal manufacturers by reducing artificial cost barriers to growth. It would encourage domestic production, spur job creation, lower costs for consumers, and build a more resilient supply chain. Most importantly, it would make U.S. trade policy work the way it’s intended—supporting manufacturing, not stalling it.

AHPA stands ready to assist policymakers in identifying specific equipment categories where this adjustment is most urgently needed. We’re not asking for shortcuts. We’re asking for a solution grounded in fairness and facts.

Why it Matters Now

Demand for dietary supplements and natural products made with safe, time-tested herbal ingredients continues to climb—and U.S. manufacturers are ready to meet it with products made here at home.

Many of these companies are already laying the groundwork for growth—building new facilities, upgrading equipment, and expanding operations. Further, many are located in rural or economically underserved areas, where manufacturing jobs offer stable employment and meaningful opportunities for local economic development.

But that momentum is now under threat. The high cost of tariffs on specialized equipment is slowing expansion plans, discouraging reinvestment, and, in some cases, prompting manufacturers to keep operations overseas, even when they’d prefer to produce here.

Ironically, in some cases it’s actually cheaper to manufacture products abroad and import the finished goods than to buy a piece of equipment needed to produce them here. That’s not a trade policy success story—that’s a signal that something isn’t working.

Without a course correction, we risk losing out on the very economic and supply chain gains that recent industrial policy initiatives are designed to achieve. American herbal companies are ready to grow here, hire here, and manufacture here, but they need a policy environment that enables—not punishes—that decision.

A Practical Path Forward

The good news? This is a fixable problem.

By adopting a smart, narrowly tailored approach to tariff relief—one based on whether U.S.-made alternatives exist—policymakers can remove a key barrier to growth in a high-potential manufacturing sector.

This type of adjustment wouldn’t compromise trade enforcement or open the door to abuse. On the contrary, it would strengthen American competitiveness by ensuring that companies aren’t penalized for investing in domestic production when the tools they need are only available abroad.

It would also send a clear message to industry: if you’re willing to invest in American manufacturing, the federal government will support that effort and not let other targeted U.S. trade policies impact a shared goal of domestic manufacturing expansion.

Let’s Not Lose Momentum

With strategic changes, we can align U.S. trade policy with the real-world needs of the herbal industry and help unlock the next chapter of American manufacturing growth.

We urge Congress, the Commerce Department, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to act. Let’s not penalize companies for building here and instead give them the tools—quite literally—to succeed.