How COVID-19 Medical Supply Shortages Led to Extraordinary Trade and Industrial Policy

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, a global shortage of hospital gowns, gloves, surgical masks, and respirators caused policymakers globally to panic. China increased imports and decreased exports of this personal protective equipment, removing supplies from world markets. Shortages led to European Union and US export controls as well as other extraordinary policy actions, including a US effort to reserve supplies manufactured in China by a US-headquartered multinational. By April 2020, China's exports had mostly resumed, and over the rest of the year its export volumes surged. But China's export prices also skyrocketed and remained elevated through 2020, reflecting severe and continued shortages. This paper explores these and other government actions, such as US trade war tariffs and US industrial policy in the form of over $1 billion of subsidies to build out its domestic personal protective equipment supply chain, as well as potential lessons for future pandemic preparedness and international policy cooperation.     

政府职能转变与权力制约机制建设

中共十八届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》是马克思主义中国化的纲领性文献，它对于转变政府职能、强化权力运行制约和监督体系等问题作出了战略部署，开启了全面深化改革的历史进程。在政治学视阚中，需要对于公平正义问题、权力监督问题、治理能力与治理体系问题等加强研究，进一步阐释《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》在马克思主义政治学中的地位问题。