Aussie sleep apnoea firm Resmed locks in Trump tariff exemption

Australian sleep health giant Resmed has locked down an exemption from Donald Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs.

Resmed produces sleep apnoea machines and accompanying technology in Singapore and Australia, and the $49bn company confirmed this week its existing tariff exemption will continue in the US.

Resmed was founded in Sydney in 1989, is now based in California, but is listed on both the ASX and Nasdaq.

The company is the fourth largest healthcare firm on the ASX. On the US market, it is worth more than Lululemon and eBay.

A global agreement protecting equipment that helps people with disabilities has exempt Resmed’s gear from tariffs for decades.

Its chief executive told investors this week that the White House had confirmed the agreement still stood in the wake of Donald Trump’s sweeping ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs.

“We have a tariff exemption under this decades-old protection. The tax revenue wouldn’t be material to the US government and there’s no reason for them to want to turn over something and get constituents or citizens upset about not caring about people with disabilities,” chief executive Mick Farrell told the Australian Financial Review this week.

However, President Trump’s penchant for unpredictability is still a live issue.

“Nothing is rock-solid when an administration, particularly this one, can make changes very quickly,” Mr Farrell told the AFR.

Resmed manufactures in Singapore and Australia. Despite a free trade agreement in place between the US and Australia, President Trump slapped Australia with his baseline 10 per cent duty earlier this month. Singaporean products were designated with the same levy. President Trump quickly paused the tariffs for 90 days earlier this month, except for China.

Beijing and Washington have since gone tit-for-tat in hiking the levies, spooking global financial markets.