De-Risking a Medical Products Acquisition Through Tariff and Supply Chain Analysis

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The Challenge

As geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainty increased, a prospective buyer of a medical products company needed a clear understanding of the Target’s exposure to China-based sourcing and the potential implications for the transaction. While the Target had begun taking steps to mitigate tariff impacts, leadership needed to determine the true extent of both direct and indirect China exposure, quantify the potential financial impact, and assess whether existing mitigation strategies were sufficient.

The buyer also needed visibility into broader supply chain vulnerabilities—including supplier concentration, SKU-level dependencies, and limited transparency into lower-tier sourcing—that could affect valuation, business continuity, or post-close performance.

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Our Approach

TriVista conducted a comprehensive tariff and supply chain risk assessment to quantify the Target’s exposure and provide the buyer with a fact-based view of potential transaction risks.

The team validated direct and indirect China sourcing exposure using country-of-origin data, HTS classifications, and publicly available trade records. TriVista then modeled the financial impact under multiple tariff scenarios to determine the potential effect on cost of goods sold and evaluate the Target’s ability to offset those increases.

Beyond the tariff analysis, TriVista assessed supplier redundancy and SKU-level sourcing dependencies to identify areas of concentrated risk. The team also evaluated the Target’s existing mitigation strategies, including tariff pass-through practices and sourcing diversification efforts, and identified opportunities to improve supplier engagement, cost tracking, and visibility into Tier-2 and Tier-3 country of origin.

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The Results

TriVista provided the buyer with a clearer, quantified view of tariff exposure and supply chain risk, helping separate manageable cost impacts from areas requiring greater post-close attention.

The analysis identified China-related sourcing representing approximately 10% of COGS, with modeled tariff scenarios resulting in a less than 4% impact. While the Target had proactively implemented mitigation measures—including an average tariff pass-through of approximately 50%—TriVista found that these practices remained largely informal and were not supported by formal tariff provisions in customer contracts.

The assessment also uncovered important sourcing concentration risks, including single-sourced SKUs and significant long-tail complexity, with approximately 2,200 SKUs accounting for 70% of China-origin spend. By identifying these vulnerabilities before close, TriVista gave the buyer greater visibility into potential supply chain risks and a prioritized roadmap for strengthening supplier collaboration, improving cost and sourcing transparency, and accelerating diversification following the acquisition.