Politics aside, US relies on China supplies to fight virus

• US politicians have voiced fury over Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus crisis but they face a harsh truth — the United States desperately needs China’s supplies.
• China before the crisis produced nearly half of the face masks imported into the United States — which in normal times cost less than a dollar but have disappeared from shelves amid growing calls for ordinary Americans wear them when outside.
• As China appears to have contained its own outbreak of SARS-CoV-1, which has infected more than one million people worldwide since first emerging late last year in Wuhan, it is now the first resort for protective gear sought across the world.
• “China is a massive source of supply for these products at a time of incredible need, both in the United States and globally,” said Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. So if you’re not open to China and trying to buy these from China right now, you really have no hope,” he said.

 

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