Associated Press

The Trump administration has taken steps to ease punitive tariffs against certain medical items from China.

The steps came against a backdrop of escalating concerns about a coronavirus outbreak in the US.

The administration has offered tariff relief for more than 100 of medical items from China, including face masks, sanitization products, isolation gowns and more.

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The Trump administration has taken steps to ease punitive tariffs against certain medical items from China amid escalating concerns about a coronavirus outbreak in the US.

The administration has offered tariff relief for more than 100 of medical items from China, according to data from the US Trade Representative. The exclusions were applied to face masks, sanitization products, isolation gowns and more.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the tariff exclusions, which were granted for more than two dozen companies. The Office of the US Trade Representative did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Lawmakers and industry groups expressed concerns about tariffs on medical supplies since before the coronavirus reached the US, saying that tariffs raise costs for American businesses and consumers. Those calls have intensified over the past week as the government warned the outbreak of the respiratory illness COVID-19 would spread throughout communities in the US.

"To ensure that the United States is prepared to contain and combat the spread of this outbreak, it is crucial that there is a robust supply of critical medical products," Republican Senator Cory Gardner wrote in a letter to the USTR last week. "We must be prepared for increased medical supply demand in the United States, and to that end, I request that USTR eliminate these harmful tariffs on certain medical products and remove barriers to importation."

Medegen Medical Products, LLC, one of the companies that received an exclusion on face mask imports, warned in its request that global production of such equipment was significantly limited to China.

"Changing to US or third country manufacturers is not practical or competitive," the company said. "Additional duties on such products would cause major financial harm and increase costs to healthcare providers and their customers in the United States."

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