Trump’s tariffs on monkeys could ‘severely damage’ US medical research and send labs to China

Researchers who use laboratory monkeys to study human diseases are worried that President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on China will damage U.S. biomedical research and send animal testing labs to China.

The Trump administration is set to impose a 15% levy on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports as part of the escalating U.S.-China trade war. The first of those tariffs will go into effect Sept. 1 with the remainder imposed Dec. 15.

Roughly 80% of all imported nonhuman primates used in scientific research in the U.S. come from China, according to the NABR. Monkeys are used to develop treatments for illnesses like AIDS, Ebola and Parkinson’s.

“Subjecting nonhuman primates to increased tariffs would severely damage vital primate research in the United States,” said Matthew R. Bailey, executive director of the National Association for Biomedical Research. Read More..https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/24/trumps-tariffs-on-china-monkeys-could-severely-damage-us-medical-research.html