BY Nadine McGrath

 

• Manufacturing in the US offers ASX companies resilience to tariffs and proximity to customers
• Eden Innovations traces its origins to the US and has a strong manufacturing footprint in the country
• AML3D has also been expanding its US footprint to meet demand from growing defence contracts

For years, Australian companies chasing growth in the US followed a familiar playbook – manufacture at home or in Asia, then export into the world’s largest market.

But that model has been evolving largely because of the trade and tariff policy playbook of US President Donald Trump in his second term.

Trump’s original “Liberation Day” tariffs of April 2, 2025 imposed a broad 10% baseline duty on nearly all US imports, including Australian goods, with higher “reciprocal” rates flagged for select trading partners.

While Australia was not specifically targeted beyond the baseline, much of the tariffs have since been scaled back or struck down by US courts, leading to a shift away from the original sweeping structure toward more limited, sector-specific tariffs.

More recently, attention has turned to pharmaceuticals, with policy discussions around higher tariffs on selected imported drug categories, potentially under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act in the US, which enables trade measures on national security grounds.

The complexity around tariffs and the potential to cut into margins has led many ASX companies to rethink how they trade with the US.

Supply chain resilience, faster delivery times, regulatory alignment and proximity to customers have prompted more companies to consider manufacturing inside the US.

CSL targets tariff resilience
The ASX’s largest healthcare stock CSL (ASX:CSL) has confirmed it expects no material impact from new US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, largely due to exemptions for its core blood plasma products and significant US-based manufacturing operations.

In a market announcement CSL said its plasma-derived therapies were derived entirely from US sourced plasma.

The company said it also continued to invest in manufacturing in the US, including plans to spend $1.5 billion to expand its plasma therapy manufacturing capabilities in Illinois.

Other large-cap ASX companies, including James Hardie (ASX:JHX), Bluescope Steel (ASX:BSL), Amcor (ASX:AMC) and ResMed (ASX:RMD) all maintain meaningful manufacturing and operational presences in the US.

Eden building on US origin
Eden Innovations (ASX:EDE) traces its origins back to the 2004 purchase of a hydrogen-related business in the US, with that country underpinning development and commercialisation of its advanced building materials and clean technology products.

EDE’s head office is in Perth, and, through US subsidiary Eden Innovations LLC, manufactures its OptiBlend dual kits for the US market and all EdenCrete products at its Denver, Colorado, facility while Eden Innovations India markets all the EdenCrete products as well as manufacturing and marketing OptiBlend dual fuel kits.

“Out of the US hydrogen related business, we first developed in Colorado our world-class OptiBlend dual fuel technology,” chairman Greg Solomon told Stockhead.

OptiBlend enables diesel powered generators to run on a mixture of 30-40% diesel fuel and 70-60% natural gas, reducing costs and emissions and extending the back-up operating capability of diesel-powered generators by more than 150%.

“Over the past 18 years, hundreds of OptiBlend kits, worth well over $20 million dollars, have been sold in the US, India, Canada, South America, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Dubai,” Solomon said.

The growing global market for OptiBlend is being driven by the need for cheaper, lower emission, extended back-up power capability for all critical infrastructure including the likes of hospitals and data centres.

In 2007, following development of its flagship carbon nanotube (CNT) pyrolysis process in collaboration with an Australian university, EDE started commercial CNT production in the US.

“Nano-sized CNTs deliver a unique and wide range of high-performance properties including extreme compressive and flexural strength, superb thermal and electrical conductivity, and the ability to absorb both electro-magnetic radiation (EMP) and radar, opening new potential applications in concrete, paints and coatings,” Solomon said.

“Initial focus has been developing our EdenCrete range of CNT enhanced concrete admixtures that improve many performance characteristics of concrete, including flexural and compressive strength, abrasion resistance, and reduced permeability, significantly increasing the overall durability and extending the service life of the concrete.”

Over the past decade, EDE has expanded its Colorado manufacturing base and used its US and Indian subsidiaries, alongside major concrete and construction partners, to capitalise on rising global demand for CNT-enriched ready-mix concrete across construction and infrastructure sectors.

The company has recently established a new division, EdenShield, to promote EdenCrete and OptiBlend across defence, military and critical infrastructure markets globally.

EdenShield will target applications including blast-resistant materials, shielding technologies and resilient energy systems, aligning the business with growing global demand for enhanced security, energy reliability and infrastructure protection.

The division will also explore additional opportunities for existing products and new CNT-enriched materials in development, aimed at expanding use cases across a broader range of applications and facilities.

“After 22 years of successful development and commercialisation of our world-leading products, Eden is positioned for its next growth phase, supported by our US manufacturing footprint, providing a scalable platform for expansion,” Solomon said.

EZZ expands into the US with manufacturing locally
In 2025 health and wellness company EZZ Life Science (ASX:EZZ) launched EZZDAY, its dedicated US brand featuring FDA-registered products and a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform.

For EZZ, EZZDAY is a gateway into the world’s largest wellness market, with the company manufacturing and selling its US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-registered products in the US.

Chief strategy officer Glenn Cross told Stockhead the initial products focused on women’s health and gut health.

“We already made a decision to manufacture in the US before President Trump talked about tariffs but fortunately it means now we are not subject to tariffs now,” he said.

“We had found a pharmaceutical contract manufacturer in the Los Angeles that was approved by the US FDA.”

Cross said the marketing was revamped to suit targeted US consumers with initial sales on e-commerce channels before progressing to bricks and mortar distribution.

“We’re just starting to looking at retail and pharmacy,” he said.

AML3D expands US manufacturing capabilities
3D industrial metal printing stock AML3D (ASX:AL3) has also been expanding its US footprint in recent years to meet demand from growing defence contracts, with the added benefit of reducing potential tariff exposure.

AL3 combines welding, metallurgical science, robotics and software to deliver large-scale, automated wire-fed metal 3D printing systems for industrial applications.

The company’s ARCEMY systems are among the largest open-air, turnkey additive manufacturing solutions, designed to produce certified metal parts in large, free-form environments.

AL3 originally manufactured its ARCEMY units in Adelaide for export globally, however, in 2024 the company established a facility in Ohio to support its key US market, where its systems are increasingly being deployed within defence supply chains and industrial manufacturing environments.

The US expansion aims to scale local capability, with plans to increase capacity to meet rising defence demand and develop non-defence opportunities.

AL3 CEO Sean Ebert told Stockhead the company identified strong demand for its technology within the US defence sector in early 2023.

“Initially, we were supporting the US Navy’s Submarine program but that quickly expanded to the full US Navy Maritime Industrial Base, which covers submarines, surface ships, and missiles,” he said.

It also quickly became clear that to support our strong growth in the US, which included expanding into the US utilities market in 2024, we needed to we established a US manufacturing facility, and we did so in May of that year.

“Having a US manufacturing base has the added advantage of helping to mitigate the impact of US tariffs.

“We are currently in the process of doubling our US capacity to keep pace with US demand, which continues to grow strongly.”