Borders Didn't Stop The Pandemic. But They Might Block The Trade Of Medical Goods
In the world of coronavirus, governments have imposed new barriers for trade to protect their own supplies. As of March 21, 54 governments had placed limits on exporting of medical goods. Some trade analysts said that the could backfire to some governments at some point. The white house warned 3M, which is the company that produces N95 masks to stop shipping the masks to other countries. But, 3M warned that blocking exports could actually reduce the availability of masks. 3M also said that if other countries retaliated by blocking masks from being sent to the US, the number of respirators being made available to the United States would decrease and that is the opposite of what everyone wants in the US. It could also have a negative impact on the smaller countries as they all depend on these big countries to import masks.
So, what do you think should happen regarding trade barriers due to COVID-19?
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/08/828789521/borders-didnt-stop-the-pandemic-but-they-might-block-the-trade-of-medical-goods
4 comments:
The United States should continue free trade and import and export, but they should do so with caution. International economies are suffering and resources are more scarce than typical, therefore free trade may be the best way to mitigate the effects of this pandemic.
The US should absolutely allow the trade of medical goods to still happen. They should probably even support these companies and assist them in the trading process to make sure that it is all being done safely, which would be expected of a medical company in the first place. And also this is a worldwide pandemic where everyones needs must be met, not just that of the United States, no matter the economic cost.
I believe that the United States should continue to support free trade in these trying times, especially the free trade of medical resources and supplies. Specifically, it is imperative that the government maintains the free trade of medical resources to help poor and developing countries that are struggling to contain the virus, and to help lessen the impact of the virus, globally.
I think that trade should be slightly restricted. At this time only essentials and required materials should be moving across borders as individual countries work out solutions to stop the spread. We should all work together in this crazy time, but restricting trade will help keep exports and imports focused on that task.
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