EU Trade Commissioner Suggests Temporary Tariff Suspension on Medical Equipment
European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said the EU could consider temporarily suspending tariffs on most-needed medical equipment to fight COVID-19, as well as asking other countries to do the same. He said the EU could consider “launching a more comprehensive negotiation of a plurilateral agreement that would lead to a level playing field, including the possible permanent liberalisation of tariffs on medical equipment and help to ensure that global supply chains can operate freely in this critical sector, and that our healthcare manufacturers could benefit from new market opportunities.”
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Hogan, who was speaking with EU member countries' trade ministers on April 16, also said he doesn't know how the public health crisis surrounding the novel coronavirus will affect global trade in the long term, but that the EU is working on an estimate of what it will do to EU exports and imports in the short term. “An open trade policy will need to be part of any future economic recovery plan,” he said. He also said member countries will “need to look at how to build resilient supply chains, based on diversification, acknowledging the simple fact that we will not be able to manufacture everything locally.”