A note on Tariffs
Starting in 2020, factory closures in China and other supply chain difficulties have swelled the price of herbal medicine. I recently ordered a formula for a patient that I hadn't ordered in a few years and found the price to be doubled. And this was before the tariffs. That said, the buying window is fairly decent right now – dispensaries stocked up on well-loved formulas before the tariffs and are still selling that stock now. I don't know how this will change in the coming days/weeks – it could get better or worse. But buying a few bottles of herbs at these prices is worth it and if the price goes down later, we can stock up again.
The bigger issue though: The way that tariffs will effect Chinese herbs is not to bring jobs to Americans, but instead will make well-care inaccessible for many people.
The long ancestral knowledge that goes into growing, harvesting and processing Chinese herbs would take many years to come to America IF we could even actually grow these herbs. Herbs each have a medicinal function on it's own, and when combined with other herbs, certain functions can be turned up or down, depending on what the patient needs. In China there are herbs that have two versions – for instance one that is grown in the North and one that is grown in the South. Despite being the same herb, their functional strengths are very different because the plant responds to differing levels of hot and cold, wet and dry, and turns up (or down) one function over another. So, even if we began growing these herbs immediately, figuring out if the change in growing location also changes the function of the herbs would take endless amounts of time, money and knowledge.
I cannot speak to these tariffs more clearly or elequently than one of the leaders of our community, Tom Leung, who runs the Kamwo dispensary in NYC's Chinatown. (Please note that this post was written in February when the tariff amount was 35%. Even though he has since written an update when the tariff shifted to 145%, I think the first post provides a better background as to how this will effect Chinese herbs for Americans). Please take five minutes if you can to read it here: https://kamwoherbs.com/kamwoblog/2025/2/27/the-impact-of-tariffs-on-acupuncture-supplies-and-herbal-medicine