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by s1artibartfast 1402 days ago
In these industries it might take 5 years to switch suppliers. There are also specs that can't be tested at the finished good level, even destructively.
1 comments

Yes, that makes it harder.

You should probably run with multiple suppliers in the first place, so it's easier to switch between them? Of course, that extra overhead probably will eat into your cost savings.

People do that too, but even with all these mitigations in place, the risk just isn't worth it.

No major medical company wants to risk recalling defective product by using a disreputable Chinese manufacturer. Unknowingly selling counterfeit product is a pretty bad look to the FDA and consumers.

This is the main reason why many procurement departments have a no China policy.