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United States-China Trade War And The Emergence Of Global Covid-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Owoye, Oluwole

    (Department of Social Sciences/Economics, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, Connecticut, USA)

  • Onafowora, Olugbenga A.

    (Department of Economics, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, USA)

Abstract

This paper asserts that the retaliatory trade wars between the United States and China contributed to the emergence of the global COVID-19 pandemic because the trade wars hindered the collaboration, coordination, and transparent information sharing about infectious diseases that could have adverse effects on the global economy. The retaliatory trade wars between the two largest economies in the world turned the symmetric information sharing about global infectious diseases to asymmetric information sharing, thus the inability to prepare for the emergence of the current global COVID-19 pandemic shock. In the first two decades of the 21st century, the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration, coordination, and transparent information sharing with global health care systems managed to curtail the outbreaks of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, H1N1 in 2009, Ebola in 2014, Zika in 2015, Dengue in 2016, and other deadly infectious diseases. We maintain that the symmetric information sharing enabled the WHO and the other global health care systems to build the firewall against these deadly infectious diseases. The absence of collaboration, coordination, and the symmetric information sharing due to the trade wars forced both countries to resort to information distortions; therefore, the inability to prepare for the global COVID-19 pandemic. Using conceptual economics, we show that the confluence of the retaliatory trade wars and COVID-19 pandemic has significant negative ramifications on economies worldwide. La guerra commerciale USA-Cina e l’emergenza sanitaria mondiale causata dalla pandemia di COVID-19 Secondo questo studio la guerra commerciale tra gli Stati Uniti e la Cina ha contribuito all’emergenza sanitaria causata dalla pandemia di COVID-19, in quanto ha ostacolato la collaborazione, il coordinamento e la condivisione trasparente delle informazioni circa le malattie infettive che potrebbero avere effetti sfavorevoli sull’economia globale. Tale guerra commerciale tra le due maggiori economie mondiali ha trasformato la condivisione simmetrica delle informazioni circa le malattie infettive in condivisione asimmetrica, da cui deriverebbe l’incapacità di affrontare l’attuale emergenza dovuta allo shock pandemico globale. Tramite l’economia concettuale viene dimostrato che la convergenza tra la guerra commerciale e la pandemia di COVID-19 causa conseguenze significative sull’economia mondiale.

Suggested Citation

  • Owoye, Oluwole & Onafowora, Olugbenga A., 2020. "United States-China Trade War And The Emergence Of Global Covid-19 Pandemic," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 73(4), pages 435-466.
  • Handle: RePEc:ris:ecoint:0881
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alberto Cavallo & Gita Gopinath & Brent Neiman & Jenny Tang, 2021. "Tariff Pass-Through at the Border and at the Store: Evidence from US Trade Policy," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 19-34, March.
    2. Aaron Flaaen & Ali Hortaçsu & Felix Tintelnot, 2020. "The Production Relocation and Price Effects of US Trade Policy: The Case of Washing Machines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(7), pages 2103-2127, July.
    3. Mary Amiti & Stephen J. Redding & David E. Weinstein, 2019. "The Impact of the 2018 Tariffs on Prices and Welfare," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 187-210, Fall.
    4. Marcus Noland & Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Tyler Moran & Sherman Robinson, . "Assessing Trade Agendas in the US Presidential Campaign," PIIE Briefings, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number PIIEB16-6, October.
    5. Whaples, Robert, 1995. "Where Is There Consensus Among American Economic Historians? The Results of a Survey on Forty Propositions," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(1), pages 139-154, March.
    6. Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Jared C. Woollacott, 2010. "Trade Disputes Between China and the United States: Growing Pains so Far, Worse Ahead?," Working Paper Series WP10-17, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Why China and the United States aren’t cooperating on COVID-19
      by Xirui Li in East Asia Forum on 2021-07-24 12:00:37

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    Cited by:

    1. Etim O. Frank & E. E. Ubeng, 2021. "Theoretical and Conceptual Issues on Covid-19 Pandemic," Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(4), pages 7394-7394, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trade Wars; Infectious Diseases; COVID-19; Collaboration; Information Sharing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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