HHS starts quarterly PPE demand forecasts as AMMA touts domestic manufacturing boost

The Department of Health and Human Services will now publish quarterly forecasts of its personal protective equipment needs, a move AMMA says gives U.S. manufacturers the clearest federal demand signal yet. The association says the change could help domestic plants hire, invest and compete more effectively against imports.

Why it matters: - HHS is now putting a recurring number on federal PPE demand, which could make it easier for U.S. manufacturers to plan production, finance equipment and hire workers. - AMMA says the move is a concrete step toward turning “Made in America” procurement into a real buying signal for domestic suppliers. - The shift comes as the U.S. still imports 80% to 90% of its PPE, leaving domestic plants underused.

What happened: - HHS began requiring its divisions to publish a quarterly forecast of personal protective equipment needs. - AMMA welcomed the change and called it the clearest demand signal domestic PPE makers have received from a federal buyer. - AMMA credited HHS leadership and the Trump Administration for adopting the policy. - Eric Axel, AMMA’s executive director, said the forecast gives numbers to the federal share of routine PPE demand. - Tom Allen, AMMA president and owner of Altor Safety outside New York City, said the policy helps manufacturers plan against routine volume instead of quarter-to-quarter price swings.

The details: - AMMA says its members can produce about 4.8 billion nitrile examination gloves a year, equal to roughly 8% of an estimated 60 billion-glove hospital market. - AMMA says that glove capacity can scale to about 28 billion to 34 billion units. - AMMA says members can make about 2.1 billion surgical and procedure masks annually, or roughly 30% of hospital demand. - AMMA says mask capacity can scale to more than 5.1 billion units. - AMMA says members can produce about 435 million N95 respirators a year and can scale that to 1.5 billion. - Axel said gloves, masks and syringes are the everyday consumables of American medicine, with steady demand from nurses, dental offices, dialysis centers and community clinics. - AMMA says domestic manufacturing lines are underused because health care purchasing leans on subsidized and unfair import prices rather than the true cost of compliant U.S. production. - AMMA says more than 87% of medical glove imports in 2024 came from just three countries, including China.

Between the lines: - The forecast may matter less as a one-time announcement than as a planning tool that gives suppliers and buyers a shared baseline. - AMMA is pushing for a broader market shift, not just a single federal reporting change. - The group wants demand visibility to reduce reliance on imports and make domestic production easier to sustain between spikes. - The policy also fits a wider federal turn toward supply-chain security and domestic sourcing.

What's next: - AMMA wants HHS forecasts broken out by product category and time horizon so manufacturers can act on them. - The association wants the VA and GSA to adopt the same quarterly forecasting practice, including compliance with the Berry Amendment. - AMMA also wants private health systems and group purchasing organizations to publish comparable forecasts. - The association pointed to broader policy moves, including a Section 232 investigation into PPE and medical supply imports, two Section 301 investigations led by USTR Greer, new Buy American legislation and proposed CMS reimbursement changes. - AMMA said trade authorities are also increasing scrutiny of transshipment and tariff circumvention. - Allen said manufacturers are starting to believe the market they have been asked to build is actually coming.

The bottom line: - HHS’s quarterly PPE forecast gives domestic makers something they have long lacked: a visible federal demand signal they can build around.