European MedTech stocks were trading lower on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Commerce launched a new national security investigation into the import of personal protective equipment (PPE), medical consumables, and medical equipment.
The investigation was initiated on September 2 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the agency said on Wednesday, referring to a law that allows the U.S. government to impose tariffs on goods it considers vital to national security.
Notable decliners included Europe-based medical equipment makers such as Philips (NYSE:PHG) (OTCPK:RYLPF), Siemens Healthineers (OTCPK:SEMHF) (OTCPK:SMMNY), and Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN).
Getinge (OTCPK:GNGBF) (OTCPK:GNGBY), Carl Zeiss Meditec (OTCPK:CZMWF) (OTCPK:CZMWY), ConvaTec Group (OTCPK:CNVVY) (OTCPK:CNVVF), Demant (OTCPK:WILLF) (OTCPK:WILYY), Sonova (OTCPK:SONVY) (OTCPK:SONVF), Coloplast (OTCPK:CLPBF) (OTCPK:CLPBY), Elekta (OTCPK:EKTAF) (OTCPK:EKTAY), and GN Store Nord (OTCPK:GGNDF) (OTCPK:GNNDY) were among other decliners.
The investigation covers a range of medical products, including medical/surgical instruments such as syringes, needles, infusion pumps, wheelchairs, crutches, pacemakers, insulin pumps, coronary stents, and heart valves.
However, it will not include pharmaceuticals such as prescription drugs, OTC medications, biologics, and specialty drugs, which are subject to a separate Section 232 investigation initiated under the Trump administration.
Stocks to watch: Medtronic (MDT), Boston Scientific (BSX), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), DexCom (DXCM), Stryker (SYK), Edwards Lifesciences (EW), and Zimmer Biomet (ZBH), iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (NYSEARCA:IHI).