ISRI Talks International Trade

摘要

In what ways have countries changed their trade policies and/or regulations that affect scrap trade in response to the coronavirus? Countries rightly have had to prioritize the health and welfare of their people, and for most countries that means ensuring they get the food and medical supplies they need from overseas sources if they don’t have them at home. So while in some regions, such as North America and Europe, recycling was deemed essential, governments are relaxing certain trade policies to make it easier to import food and medical goods but leaving in place tariff and non-tariff barriers on other products. In Asia, it has been a mixed response in terms of designating recycling as essential, so while trade policies are not being used, the sudden lack of purchasing in these regions has had a serious impact on scrap exporters. India is where we have seen the most disruption. The national lockdown there closed all recycling operations and most manufacturing, and ports remained open for food and medical goods only.