Economic, political, foreign currency and other risks associated with international sales and operations could adversely affect our results of operations. International markets contribute a substantial portion of our revenues, and we intend to continue expanding our presence in these regions. The exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates takes on different forms. International revenues and costs are subject to the risk that fluctuations in exchange rates could adversely affect our reported revenues and profitability when translated into U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. These fluctuations could also adversely affect the demand for products and services provided by us. As a multinational corporation, our businesses occasionally invoice third-party customers in currencies other than the one in which they primarily do business (which we refer to as the functional currency). Movements in the invoiced currency relative to the functional currency could adversely impact our cash flows and our results of operations. As our international sales grow, exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates could have a larger effect on our financial results. In 2023, currency translation had an unfavorable effect of $0.02 billion on revenues due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies in which the company sells products and services.
Some emerging market countries may be particularly vulnerable to periods of global and local political, legal, regulatory and financial instability, including issues of geopolitical relations, the imposition of international sanctions in response to certain state actions and/or sovereign debt issues, and may have a higher incidence of corruption and fraudulent business practices. As a result of these and other factors, our strategy to grow in emerging markets may not be successful, and growth rates in these markets may not be sustainable.
In addition, many of our employees, contract manufacturers, suppliers, job functions, outsourcing activities and manufacturing facilities are located outside the U.S. Accordingly, our future results could be harmed by a variety of factors, including:
- interruption to transportation flows for delivery of parts to us and finished goods to our customers;
- changes in a specific country's or region's political, economic, social or other conditions;
- changes in diplomatic and trade relationships, including new tariffs, trade protection measures, import or export licensing requirements, trade embargoes and sanctions and other trade barriers;
- tariffs imposed by the U.S. on goods from other countries and tariffs imposed by other countries on U.S. goods, including the tariffs adopted by the U.S. government on various imports from China and by the Chinese government on certain U.S. goods;
- the impact of public health emergencies, pandemics, epidemics or other health outbreaks on the global economy, such as the COVID-19 pandemic;
- uncertainties regarding the collectability of accounts receivable;
- the imposition of governmental controls;
- diverse data privacy and protection requirements;
- supply interruptions, which could disrupt our ability to produce our products;
- increases in materials, energy, labor or other manufacturing-related costs or higher supply chain logistics costs;
- negative consequences from changes in or interpretation of laws and regulations, including those related to tax and import/export;
- difficulty in staffing and managing widespread operations;
- differing labor regulations;
- differing protection of intellectual property;
- unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; and
- geopolitical uncertainty or turmoil, including terrorism and war.
Demand for some of our products depends on capital spending policies of our customers and on government funding policies. Our customers include pharmaceutical and chemical companies, laboratories, universities, healthcare providers, government agencies and public and private research institutions. Many factors, including public policy spending priorities, available resources, and product and economic cycles, have a significant effect on the capital spending policies of these entities. Spending by some of these customers fluctuates based on budget allocations and the timely passage of the annual federal budget. An impasse in federal government budget decisions could lead to substantial delays or reductions in federal spending.