Dr. Fabricant spoke with NutraIngredients on March 6 during the recent Expo West in Anaheim. After tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China went into effect on March 4, the Trump administration announced two days later that the tariffs with its closest neighbors would be suspended. Tariffs on steel and aluminum were still introduced on March 12.
The on-again, off-again approach, followed by reciprocal actions from other countries and retaliatory steps by the White House has put businesses on edge as they try to plan and forecast in a rapidly changing landscape.
“We need to look at China separate from Canada and Mexico,” Dr. Fabricant said. “I don’t anticipate a long burn with Canada and Mexico, just because it never has been. And I think it’s pretty clear, just operationally, that it really can’t be a long burn. So, I think people may have one plan for that and then the longer plan from China.”
The Natural Products Association is meeting with trade representatives to explore the potential of exemptions, but Dr. Fabricant asked what the long-term solution would be for the industry.
“We started the conversation during COVID,” he said. “I remember [we] talked about reshoring. Where are we in that process? That may be something…”
FDA
Dr. Fabricant also shared his thoughts on the changes at FDA (for example, the abrupt resignation of Jim Jones as deputy commissioner of the FDA’s Human Foods program, who cited “indiscriminate” layoffs for his decision).
“None of this is going to change how the agency does their business. It’s really time to refocus,” he said. “I think there’s been a lot of frustration on enforcement of NDIs, a lot of frustration on why we are still kind of at or hanging around COVID levels for GMP inspections. Can we be smarter? Can we have a real dialog? And then FDA just goes back to ‘we want MPL, and then we’re going to spend resource on NMN or NEC.’ Well, wait a second. Those are critical function, but getting GMP numbers up aren’t and going after people who are non-compliant aren’t?
“That’s the problem. I mean, that’s where the focus needs to be. So, we’re hopeful that this kind of resets the discussion on enforcement, because that’s where the focus needs to be, frankly speaking, and it hasn’t been.”
Dr. Fabricant also discussed the current situation regarding NMN and the restrictive actions at the state level. Watch the video for the full interview.
