EnThe latest World Trade Organization review of the application and repeal of trade protectionism measures (ranging from import duties to export bans) has determined that 49% of the measures applied to medical products during the pandemic have now been repealed as of mid-May.
Some of the most widespread measures remain in place, however, including export authorization requirements in the EU and India’s ongoing block on exports of vaccines as discussed in Panjiva’s research of June 15.
While much of the focus of medical supply chain operations has been on COVID-19 vaccines, there may be emerging protectionist issues in more mundane products such as personal protection equipment (PPE). U.S.-based manufacturer Premium-PPE has cut its output by 90% due to competition from cheaper products, Nikkei reports.
That comes in the wake of dumping allegations made by the American Mask Manufacturers Association regarding Chinese manufactured face masks, which the Biden administration has yet to act upon. The application of tariffs, either through a common-or-garden antidumping investigation or a wider section 232 “national security” review of the products could lead to tariffs which may help U.S. manufacturers but raise healthcare costs.
Panjiva’s analysis shows that U.S. imports of PPE have increased recently, with total imports of products defined by the U.S. ITC increased by 3.0% in April versus the Q1’21 average, which followed a 7.7% increase in Q1’21 versus Q4’20.
Yet, most of that increase was the result of increased shipments of rubber gloves which climbed 15.0% in April versus the Q1’21 average, Panjiva’s data shows. That came after restrictions on imports linked to Top Glove were reportedly resolved.
Imports of face masks meanwhile dropped by 18.2% in April versus the Q1’21 average in dollar terms after a 31.1% slide in Q1’21 versus Q4’20 with the value of imports in March being the lowest since March 2020.
Source: Panjiva
Yet, the decline in dollar terms was clearly driven by a slide in the average value per unit of imports from China. Total imports from China fell by 24.2% in April versus Q1’21, yet the volume of imports only declined by 15.3% over the same period.
That resulted in a 10.4% drop in the average import value per unit to $6.0 per kg. That was well below the $34.9 per kg average of May 2020 but is still above with the $5.3 per kg that applied in 2019 on average. Imports from other countries have averaged $13.5 per kg though the trade data doesn’t differentiate between different qualities of mask and returns the relative pricing to that seen in 2019.
Source: Panjiva
