Trade War, PPE, and Race

Abstract

Tariffs on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as face masks and gloves, weaken the American response to COVID. The United States has exacerbated PPE shortages with Section 301 tariffs on these goods, part of a trade war with China. This has a disparate impact felt by minority communities because of a series of health inequity harms. COVID’s racial disparity appears in virus exposure, virus susceptibility, and COVID treatments. This essay makes legal, policy, and race-and-health arguments. Congress has delegated to the U.S. Trade Representative expansive authority to increase tariffs. This has made PPE supplies casualties of the trade war. In political terms, the Trump administration has prioritized increasing tariffs over public health readiness. Regarding race, PPE shortages exemplify the socio-economic effects of trade policies and add to COVID’s racial disparities.

Keywords: personal protective equipment, trade, Section 301, trade war, tariffs, racial disparity, COVID, COVID-19, health inequity, coronavirus

JEL Classification: F10, F13, F16, F52, F66, H10, H12, H23, H57, H51, I10, I14, I28, I31