“How do I survive?”: Rates threaten the American market for traditional Chinese medicine

In a pharmaceutical factory in Chengdu, China, is an order that Thomas Leung placed from Manhattan in January.

The shipment includes a variety of concentrated herb pellets that are used in traditional Chinese medicine. There is Dang Gui, also known as Angelica Root, who is used to treat gynecological disorders; Chai Hu, or Bupleurrum root, a herb that is often used to calm nerves; and Huang Qi, or astragalus root, a tonic herb that promotes immune interest.

It is not clear when the shipment will land Kamwo Meridian HerbsA staple in New York City for more than half a century that claims to be the greatest traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy on the east coast. When it comes, the herbs are provided to practitioners and patients who want to treat colds, pain and other ailments – but for now the herbs must be.

Dr. Leung, the Chief Executive of Kamwo, put in the order after President Trump had placed a minimum rate of 145 percent on all Chinese goods last month. China responded by raising rates on American goods to 125 percent, and the resulting impasse has effectively frozen trade between the two countries.

Traditional Chinese medicine is just one of the many industries that have occurred due to the rates and uncertainty when, or whether they can be lifted. There are already fewer ships in American ports and consumers can start seeing empty shelves Early June.

The trade war has caused paralysis among importers, Dr. Leung, a herbal pharmacist of the fourth generation and the third member of his family to lead Kamwo. Even if he was willing to pay the import duties, he said, he would run the risk of being stuck with priceless expensive shares that few people would like to buy if the rates are reversed.

“Nobody does anything until we know what the hell is happening,” he said.

Since its doors opened in 1973, Kamwo has written regulations filled by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and herbs sold by the pound. However, it recently stopped selling bulk for advertisements. With the import effective paustion, there is a run on herbs and supplies, so the prices have already risen, Dr. Leung.

Space and time also limit how much the typical traditional Chinese medicine -pharmacy can stock up. Herbs can become bad or be stale, and even if it was possible to save a large stock, the question is where to store everything.

Before the rates were announced, Kamwo had expected that he would raise $ 6.5 million in income this year, Dr. Leung. Kamwo is lucky to be a larger company that “maybe eight months in herbs” at hand, he said, but “not every smaller company will have luxury.”

Slim margins, high bet

Traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, has grown up in the last 20 years, driven by immigration and a willingness among American consumers to try something new when looking for help, said Arthur Dong, a professor of education at the McDonough School of Business at the University of Georgetown.

It is unclear how large the TCM industry is in the United States. China exported nearly $ 5.5 billion in traditional Chinese medicine in 2023, an increase of $ 3.6 billion in 2017, According to statista.

A long -term trade war would harm the TCM industry, just like other niche but popular sectors that are largely dependent on import. Jaya Wen, a university teacher at the Harvard Business School, said that TCM “will probably be very detrimental to other industries.”

Many pharmacies are small mother-and-pop stores that are active on razor-thin margins. As soon as they no longer have stock, they are left with bare shelves, no incoming things and a rental check that owes every month. The rates could also threaten the livelihood of people throughout Supply Chain, including the store employees who collect the orders and the truck drivers who drag these ingredients to their latest destinations.

Many of the herbs used in TCM cannot grow outside of China, Dr. Leung, and they are processed by skilled employees, according to highly specialized methods that were established generations ago.

“If I make a list of all the things we have to do to promote that, such as a Chinese herbal industry in the United States, it is impossible,” he said. “It is literally impossible.”

The disruption of TCM in the United States “will be quite widespread, and this is just one narrow industry,” said Dr. Dong. “This is one of the thousands of industries that are affected.”

Because Mr Trump often changes his mind, Dr. said Dong, it’s hard for companies to plan the future. That is why “you have seen the gears from trade to a standstill.”

“No CEO of any company, whether it is big or small, is willing to invest or take out loans or to increase a trade or to commit to something outside of it like the next two months because of this uncertainty,” he said.

Despite the economic challenges, GA Donovan, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that he would “not count this industry.”

TCM practitioners in China experienced a “very turbulent 20th century,” he said, referring to the violent political revolution of the cultural revolution of Mao Zedong. As a result, he added, they have “the resilience to manage this.”

“You could expect that they will respond to this challenge with a lot of ingenuity,” he said.

Treatments for ‘everyday people’

Kamwo ships to all 50 states, Canada and Europe, and about 75 percent of his customers are not Chinese, Dr. Leung.

Among them is Lyn Pierre, 58, who came in Kamwo on a sunny Friday afternoon looking for her recipe. As a runner, she used TCM on different points in her life to stay injury -free, but now she is worried that the already expensive medicines she takes will cost even more.

“Of course I am worried,” said Mrs. Pierre, sitting on a chair in the store and added: “I think it will be a bit expensive.”

Mrs. Pierre said it is already difficult to earn a living, especially in these days of rising costs. The idea of ​​herbs that costs even more than they already do is daunting.

“It’s not easy,” she said. “It’s really a struggle.”

Acupuncture, the ancient Chinese medical technique for pain relief, can also feel the impact of the trade war.

Dr. Beth Nugent, the president of the Acupuncture Society of New York, said that most acupuncture practitioners’ operate on very slender margins’, adding that she and her colleagues’ tends’ the tendency does not have to strain much because we just love what we do ‘.

Herbs, tonics and needles are essential for the practice of Dr. Nugent. Although there are other sources for some items, such as needles, they are “perhaps not as high quality as the one we can get from China,” she said.

“If I could charge someone the minimal amount that they can afford so that they come for acupuncture, that’s what I’m going to do,” she said, “but if it comes to a point where I cannot keep the light in my practice, how do I survive as a practitioner?”

She is worried that patients who may not look for her when she is forced to increase prices, perhaps because they can no longer pay the treatments. She thinks of the hockey player she helped to get back on the ice, the couple who finally thought after fertility struggle and the patient with Vertigo who was back on his feet.

“This is not something esoteric or something that falls outside the realm of ordinary people,” she said. “They are everyday people who receive this treatment.”