Covid treatment cost versus strategy, news by Hebei Longsheng Metals
| Grassley’s COVID tariff move may complicate Trump’s onshoring strategy U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair, Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has stated that legislation to cut import duties on medical PPE through 2022 may be possible during the post-election, "lame-duck: session. While that would cut the costs of treating the COVID-19 pandemic it may run counter to the Trump administration’s mid-term strategy of onshoring the production of critical medical products. Currently 78.1% of U.S. imports of medical supplies needed to diagnose and treat COVID-19 are duty free. Shipments of non-dutiable products rose by 17.3% sequentially in August while those with duties applied fell by 12.8%. Imports of PPE fell by 13.4% in August versus July while shipments of test kits and pharmaceuticals recovered 66.7% and 17.4% respectively after falling for two months. The drop in PPE imports took them to $3.56 billion in August, the lowest since April. Data for seaborne imports indicating shipments of face masks likely fell a further 13.6% sequentially in September. Not all importers are experiencing that fast a fall with shipments linked to Molnlycke only down by 7.0% while those associated with Owens & Minor and Becton Dickinson actually increased in September By Hebei Longsheng Metals & Minerals Co,. Ltd. |
