Trump tariffs on China could cost the US in coronavirus fight

The US could suffer some negative consequences of President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imported goods as it could need critical medical products made in China to combat Covid-19.

Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations said that without the tariffs the US would be in a “better position in this bidding game”, as many countries scramble to get their hands on Chinese equipment to fight the coronavirus.

In the multiple rounds of tariff escalation between both countries since 2018, many of the levies went to essential medical supplies from China including medical protective clothing, personal protective equipment (PPE), CT systems and disposable medical headwear.

According to the Peterson Institute of International Economics, around $3.3 bn in imports of critical health care products still face 7.5% tariffs, while $1.1bn of imports bought that could potentially treat Covid-19 remain subject to Trump’s 25% tariffs.

The US is being hit hard by the virus as the number of cases of the disease rises to 530,000 and the deaths reach almost 21,000 people. Officials are predicting a death toll of 60,000 people by August.