Running high speed NBR glove lines in North America: What it actually takes
The confluence of two structural forces is rewriting the economics of nitrile exam glove manufacturing in North America. The 100% Section 301 tariff on Chinese medical gloves, and now with the possibility of Section 232 national security tariffs being imposed, has fundamentally changed the landed cost calculation for domestic buyers. At the same time, the Federal Acquisition Regulationʼs Section 25.104 nonavailability list, far from being a technical footnote, stands as a formal federal admission that domestic industry has failed to produce nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) latex at the scale and quality the market demands; every procurement waiver issued in its wake is simultaneously a national security vulnerability.