GE HealthCare
(Nasdaq: GEHC)
could be among the companies affected by a Chinese government probe into whether lower-priced medical CT tubes from the U.S. and India are getting dumped into the East Asian giant’s market.
The probe comes at the same time that the Trump administration has launched a global trade war that includes major tariffs against China.
“We don’t know if this is purely coincidental or part of a broader retaliatory effort,” Ryan Zimmerman and Iseult McMahon said in an April 4 report.
“From GEHC’s perspective, it may depend on whether the CT tubes are actually imported into China or manufactured in China but it may also depend on whether the Ministry views GEHC and other multi-national companies as local. … The risk is that any ruling from the Ministry could impact tender processes and sales within a key market. We think this will be a drawn out process and more dictated by broader macrodynamics such as negotiations between the U.S. and China on trade.”
GE HealthCare tells MassDevice that it does not believe the anti-dumping investigation is a material risk to its business in China.
GEHC shares are down more than 31% over the past month, a considerable decline among the major medtech company stocks that are down amid the Trump-initiated trade war.
The China region was the source of 10% of GE HealthCare’s $19.7 billion in sales in 2024, according to its most recent annual report. Out of 53,000 employees, 7,000 are in China, the second highest total behind the U.S.
China’s Ministry of Commerce says the country’s domestic CT tube industry filed a complaint that imports of certain medical CT tubes from the U.S. and India were up 13% from 2022 to 2024 while the price continued to drop, according to the official Chinese Communist Party People’s Daily newspaper.
Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Commerce hosted a roundtable meeting on April 6 with representatives from GE HealthCare, Medtronic, and other U.S. companies in which Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce, assured the companies that the ministry will continue to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. According to a ministry news release, he said China sticks by its commitment to multilateralism — and its policies to attract foreign investment will not change.
In a statement shared by a spokesperson with MassDevice, GE HealthCare said: “GE HealthCare engages in fair market practices and operates with integrity in every country in which we do business. On April 6, we were among several U.S. companies invited to a roundtable meeting with China’s Ministry of Commerce at which time the Ministry used GE HealthCare as an example when underscoring their commitment to fair treatment of foreign companies. We do not believe the anti-dumping investigation is a material risk to our business in China.”
