Accessibility links
Coronavirus and Trade : The Indicator from Planet Money The coronavirus pandemic may have pushed trade wars off the front page, but such wars are still with us — and they're complicating the world's ability to fight the virus.

The Indicator from Planet Money

Coronavirus and Trade

Coronavirus and Trade

Listen · 9:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/830330633/852055355" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
NANCHANG, CHINA - Workers make face masks for export in a railway subsidiary in Nanchang city in central China's Jiangxi province (Photo credit: Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Enlarge this image
Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
NANCHANG, CHINA - Workers make face masks for export in a railway subsidiary in Nanchang city in central China&#039;s Jiangxi province (Photo credit: Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Global trade has collapsed, thanks to our reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, but that doesn't mean our trade wars with China and other nations are over. And they might be risking the world's ability to fight the virus and prevent its spread.

Today we talk with one of our favorite trade gurus, Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute. We discuss the ongoing effects of the trade war, how it's affecting the purchase and distribution of critical healthcare supplies, and what lessons companies and countries might learn from what we're going through now.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Newsletter.

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, PocketCasts and NPR One.