As Americans and as members of the natural products industry, I thought it would be worthwhile to review where the U.S. Presidential candidates stand on issues relating to trade, dietary supplements, and regulations. 

On Trade

Former President Donald Trump is not in favor of globalist agendas or free trade that may put the U.S. at a disadvantage. Pundits would point to his jettisoning of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), the establishment of a new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and renegotiated trade agreements with South Korea, Japan, and others.
 
On Aug. 6, 2020, President Trump said: “Globalization has made the financial elites who donate to politicians very wealthy, but it’s left millions and millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache — and our towns and cities with empty factories and plants.” He added: “We’re fighting for Main Street, not Wall Street.”¹
 
Trump has reportedly promised more tariffs if reelected — 60% against Chinese goods, 10% against products from the rest of the world. These would be in addition to the tariffs he imposed when he was in office.²
 
In Trump’s case, trade groups were concerned that the dietary supplement ingredient supply chain would be endangered. In 2018, the Natural Products Association (NPA) requested that 57 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes — representing hundreds of dietary ingredients — be exempted from the then-proposed tariffs.³
 
On May 14, 2024, President Joe Biden announced tariff increases on a range of imports from China.⁴
 
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has expressed concern about China’s desire to “bury” the U.S. economically.⁵

On Dietary Supplements

In a statement to Nutraceuticals World, Stefanie Spear, Kennedy Shanahan 2024 campaign press secretary, said: “Mr. Kennedy believes this country needs to reduce its reliance on pharmaceutical drugs and orient toward natural foods, herbs, and supplements. The hostility of the FDA toward supplements benefits Big Pharma while encroaching on the free choice of consumers.”
 
While some observers, including the Food Drug & Law Institute, saw Trump’s posture toward certain agencies — including the FTC — as having been a “regulatory holiday” due to his position on red tape, burdensome regulation and overbearing enforcement, it could offer an opportunity in a second Trump administration “for industry to engage with FDA on some of its voluntary guidelines and best practices.”⁶
 
As to specific supplements, much press, in 2020, was dedicated to the president’s COVID-19 regimen, which included zinc, vitamin D and melatonin. Several years prior to his first administration, Trump did lend his name to The Trump Network, which sold customized vitamins and scientific testing kits.
 
“I am not sure what Trump did specifically for foods or supplements during his presidency,” said Blake Ebersole, president and founder of NaturPro Scientific. “As far as I could tell, FDA did not engage in any major issues, including fulfilling its early work and promises on NDIs and CBD during the Trump era. But neither has anything happened on those fronts in the past 4 years either.”
 
In February 2024, the Biden-Harris administration announced $1.7 billion in commitments through the “White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities.”
 
In general, it appears that President Biden’s focus, as to nutrition, has been mainly related to maternal nutrition, infant nutrition, school nutrition programs, community access to healthy foods, etc. Not very much can be easily found regarding what Biden’s positions are regarding dietary supplements, however.
 
“It’s always difficult to consider the impact of a presidential candidate on a smaller industry like ours,” said Ebersole. “We have suggestions of indicators of political statements, which may not necessarily be how the candidates actually vote or in fact support.” 
 
“Actions speak louder than words and I believe that the actions taken during Biden’s terms may have been better for the natural products industry,” Ebersole added.
 
“During the Biden administration, we have seen multiple FDA warning letters to Amazon — which spurred Amazon to improve their standards in a rapid way. Finally, Amazon is putting in place a system that will hopefully exclude subpar, untested, foreign, untraceable, and cheaply made products, in favor of established American brands like NOW Foods, Gaia Herbs and many others who have invested in quality and have had their act together for decades.”
 
As vice president, Ebersole noted, “Biden sat through a prosperous time for supplements in the early Obamacare years. To help reduce instances of food poisoning, he helped to oversee the passage of FSMA (the Food Safety Modernization Act) in 2011 and presumably supported its signing by Obama.”

As a subclass of foods, supplements and their ingredients are subject to FSMA, he continued. “FSMA helped to clear the path for established American business to prosper over foreign traders and untracked ingredients and products. I’ll go on record by saying that FSMA helped both product safety and quality, and helped responsible businesses be more successful. In general, we would be in more trouble on product quality and safety, and the resulting deterioration of consumer trust, without FSMA.”
 
Biden also signed the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) in 2022, which Ebersole said “helps to prevent toxic, poorly made and unsafe products from entering from overseas and should be expected to help American cosmetics manufacturers and brands. MoCRA will also help to do something similar to what FSMA did — level the playing field and lower the risk of sub-par or unsafe products and ingredients.”

Overall Takeaways

“It is considered a scientific fact that nature abhors a vacuum,” said Mark LeDoux, chairman and CEO of Natural Alternatives International. “In the world of dietary supplements, even with the construct of DSHEA, it is apparent that the agency tasked with implementing key provisions of the law would like to focus on other industries, particularly the lucrative pharma one.”
 
LeDoux added: “The politicians in DC are supposed to provide oversight of agencies and departments, but aside from some made-for-TV or campaign sound bites, the neglect continues, and agencies respond to direct queries with word salads and laments of resource inadequacy. The scary part of this situation is this: Do we need deaths to actively engage with enforcement against criminal behavior?”
 
Attorneys general and state legislators are seizing the opportunity to fill the vacuum “at the behest of some well-funded groups with questionable scientific underpinnings,” LeDoux cautioned. “Restrictions of access to supplements based on pseudoscience now seem the rage in state governments, and all are encouraged by a lack of responsible leadership in DC.”
 
“Agencies often lament lack of resources, elected officials clamor for more face time and sound bites, enforcement is by lax discretion, if ever at all, and ultimately the industry suffers. Will this change in the next cycle? It would be nice,” LeDoux said.
 
Ebersole noted that some people believe any kind of new regulation is bad for business. “I think that may be true to other industries, but not the supplement industry. I vote for candidates who level the playing field and create a sensible structure where there was none before. Candidates who don’t scream ‘no regulations’ into the crowd. Candidates who try to block untraceable, irresponsible products onto the market.” 

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About the Author: James Gormley has been an award-winning natural products industry writer, editor and thought leader since 1995. The head of Gormley NPI Consulting, James can be reached via his website, JamesGormley.com or via email at jamesgormley01@gmail.com.

References

1. Trump White House Archives. President Trump: ‘We Have Rejected Globalism and Embraced Patriotism’. August 7, 2020.  https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/president-trump-we-have-rejected-globalism-and-embraced-patriotism/
 
2. Peterson Institute for International Economics. Trump’s proposed blanket tariffs would risk a global trade war. May 29, 2024. https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2024/trumps-proposed-blanket-tariffs-would-risk-global-trade-war
 
3. Natural Products Association. Letter to Robert E. Lighthizer, U.S. Trade Representative re Docket No. USTR-2018-0026. July 2, 2018. https://www.npanational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dr.-Daniel-Fabricant-Natural-Products-Association-Request-to-Testify-at-Hearing-Summary-of-Proposed-Testimony.pdf   
 
4. WhiteHouse.gov. FACT SHEET: President Biden Takes Action to Protect American Workers and Businesses from China’s Unfair Trade Practices. May 14, 2024. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/14/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-action-to-protect-american-workers-and-businesses-from-chinas-unfair-trade-practices/
 
5. Fishbach, B. (2023). “RFK Jr.: ‘I Feel Like We Are Going to Win the Primaries’. Jewish Journal. June 14, 2023. https://jewishjournal.com/community/359715/rfk-jr-i-feel-like-we-are-going-to-win-the-primaries/
 
6. McCormick, T. (2017). The Dietary Supplement Industry in the Time of Trump: Potential Opportunities and Pitfalls. Food & Drug Law Institute. December 2017. https://www.fdli.org/2017/12/dietary-supplement-industry-time-trump-potential-opportunities-pitfalls/