By Siddhi Mahatole
Oct 6 (Reuters) – Becton Dickinson became the first major US medical device company to strike a deal with the government to expand its domestic manufacturing, pledging $19 billion over several years in return for shelter from future tariffs.
Under the agreement, the company on Tuesday said it plans to make capital, operational and supply chain investments in the US, with $3 billion earmarked for strategic manufacturing sites across the country.
Shares of the medical device maker were up 2.4% in morning trading.
The deal follows the Trump administration’s push to use tariff threats to spur domestic healthcare manufacturing, with major drugmakers already pledging billions for new and expanded US production and research facilities.
The agreement ties BD’s US manufacturing commitments to relief from future tariffs on covered products and inputs under Section 232, subject to the final scope of the measures and the company meeting agreed milestones.
“We think tariff clarity or the potential for levies to be ‘less bad’ than feared could be a clearing event for MedTech,” said Jefferies analyst Mathew Taylor, adding “we wonder if there are more MedTech announcements in the works.”
The company plans to expand US production by about 5 billion essential medical consumables annually, raising the share it supplies domestically to roughly 80%.
It also plans to manufacture all needles used in the US domestically using American-made steel.
Becton Dickinson said it was not currently quantifying the financial impact of the agreement because the final tariff rates, product scope and timing have not yet been determined.
The announcement builds on President Donald Trump’s statement on Monday that the company had agreed to invest $3 billion to bring manufacturing of essential medical products to the United States, with more than $1 billion going to Nebraska.
In January, Becton announced a $110 million investment in Columbus, Nebraska, to expand prefillable syringe and cannula production, adding about 120 jobs, with syringe production expected to begin supplying customers in mid-2026.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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