Trump’s Trade War Spares an Industry Europe Dominates: Hearing Aids
The roughly $12 billion global hearing aids sector is likely to continue to be led by Europe — especially Denmark — for some time to come.
A hearing aid by GN Store Nord.
Source: GN Store Nord
Just northwest of Copenhagen, a cluster of small towns surrounded by trees and lakes is home to three of the world’s biggest hearing-aid makers. The area’s outsize control of the market, which has helped Denmark earn the moniker “Silicon Valley of Sound,” seems set to endure after devices for chronic disabilities were among the rare segments to escape the Trump tariff burn.
An ecosystem developed over more than a century has given the three Danish companies Demant A/S, GN Store Nord A/S and WS Audiology A/S — together with their Swiss rival Sonova Holding AG — a quasi-monopoly on the market for devices that help people hear better. This small yet sensitive medical-care segment was shielded from tariffs during President Donald Trump’s first term and spared again from the barrage of levies he unleashed last month.