Nearshore Sourcing Reduces China Tariff Exposure and Supply Chain Risk

---

The Challenge

A medical device company faced significant supply chain exposure due to its reliance on China-based manufacturing. Rising tariffs were creating margin volatility, while the potential for tariffs to increase as high as 100% introduced additional financial and operational risk.

Leadership needed to determine whether nearshore manufacturing could provide a viable alternative without increasing total landed cost, compromising stringent quality requirements, or disrupting customer service. The company also needed confidence that any new supplier could meet regulated medical-device standards and scale production as demand evolved.

---

Our Approach

TriVista developed and executed a structured supplier diversification strategy designed to validate both the economics and operational feasibility of shifting production closer to the United States.

The team mapped the global supplier landscape and identified qualified manufacturing partners in Mexico with proven capabilities across molding, assembly, and regulated quality systems. Through a disciplined RFI and RFQ process, TriVista reduced the initial supplier pool by approximately 75%, allowing the client to focus quickly on the strongest candidates across cost, capability, quality, scalability, and supply chain risk.

TriVista then developed detailed total landed cost models to compare nearshore options with the incumbent China supply base under multiple tariff scenarios. On-site supplier assessments were conducted to validate manufacturing capabilities, quality systems, available capacity, and the ability to support future growth.

With a fact-based understanding of each supplier’s capabilities and economics, TriVista led structured negotiations and scenario modeling to improve pricing, preserve flexibility, and establish a sourcing strategy capable of performing across a range of future trade conditions.

---

The Results

TriVista demonstrated that the client could materially reduce its China concentration risk without accepting the traditional cost premium associated with nearshoring.

The sourcing process achieved approximately 30% unit-cost compression through supplier competition and disciplined negotiations. Under current tariff conditions, the resulting Mexico-based sourcing solution reached total cost of ownership parity with China, with approximately 0% net cost difference, effectively eliminating the historical economic barrier to nearshore production.

More importantly, the strategy created a path to eliminate up to 100% of the client’s tariff-concentration exposure on the targeted supply base. By validating qualified nearshore suppliers, confirming their operational capabilities, and establishing competitive commercial terms, TriVista gave leadership a scalable sourcing alternative that protected margins, strengthened supply chain resilience, and reduced exposure to future trade and geopolitical disruption.