Tariffs and Cloud labs

Written on 2025-04-09 after Trump's China tariffs

If your company is relying on biomedical R&D from China/India, the clock just started ticking.

Like many others, we've gotten nasty surprises from Trump's tariffs.

Whether they make strategic sense and are here to stay is anyone's guess.

But the big picture is - this trend won't end here. It's part of a macroeconomic move to end US dependence on other countries for critical capabilities. Manufacturing is one of them.

Biomedical research is another.

Much of preclinical & clinical gruntwork is currently outsourced to China/India. It's just as critical, maybe more so.

A few years ago, WuXi - the biggest preclinical contract research organization - got slammed by US regulators for illicitly sharing study data with 3rd parties in China. That was under Biden. So it doesn't take much imagination to see where this is headed.

But - the US can't compete with China on cost of labor. "Made in USA" can only become competitive once the main line item is cost of power / raw materials, not the cost of hands experimenting on mice.

So, the only way to remain competitive is to automate. Automated labs may become strategic assets for the US.

Another reason why they will be a fundamental part of the future.