Pirates of the 21st Century

Journalist Nataliya Portyakova talks about how the right of the powerful affects the United States image abroad

After the COVID-19 breakout in Italy, the country quickly realized that it had been abandoned by its European Union partners. Italy’s experience with fighting COVID-19 has demonstrated that in times of deep global crisis, countries are left to their own devices. Even though Brussels later announced significant measures to support Rome, we have learned that countries are in no rush to help others when they have to focus on domestic problems.

One of the first global manifestations of this dynamic was the export ban implemented by 50 countries around the world on medical gear, including protective suits, gloves, masks and other items. Russia initiated this ban on March 4. The European Union followed suit last week. India went even further and banned exports of medical devices and key drugs, including the one that cures malaria, and, according to some sources, helps in treating COVID-19.

Most countries have followed this bootstrapping logic, and others seem to understand it. However, some countries, including Russia and China, have stepped in and provided some help. Others, while struggling to contain the epidemic, have started drowning others.

At the end of last week, President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law. It allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to purchase as many N95 respirators as it saw fit from the U.S. multinational company 3M Co. To the company’s credit, it pushed back against Trump’s decisions that would have affected its existing contracts with other countries. Eventually, 3M Co. had to stop exporting respirators to Latin America and Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not react too harshly since most countries had already implemented similar measures by that time, though they did not advertise it as loudly. However, the way the United States acted toward Canada was not pretty. Ottawa still keeps sending its doctors and nurses, as well as gloves, test kits and key components for the manufacture of N95 respirators. That might be why 3M Co. decided to resume its exports to Canada last week.

The United States has treated other countries even worse. Multiple sources had reported a few instances earlier where the U.S. literally seized vital goods from other countries.

Germany was among the first ones to complain. First, Trump offended Germany with his offer to pay German doctors working on the COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, U.S. authorities intercepted 200,000 respirators in Bangkok which Germany had ordered from a U.S. company with factories in China. Berlin’s Interior Minister Andreas Geisel called the U.S. actions “an act of modern piracy” and denounced its behavior for using “Wild West methods.”

Washington has denied all accusations, but no one believes them, probably because a few days later, three regions in France lodged similar claims against the United States. The French assert that the U.S. hijacked an order of Chinese-made masks on their way to France by paying triple or quadruple the amount France had offered. Furthermore, the United States intercepted masks coming from China to South America and sent them to the United States instead. It is interesting that none of the countries have blamed China for being greedy, at least publicly.

On the other hand, Americans who had been buying protective gear from China in large quantities decided to bite the hand that feeds them. Recently Sen. Marco Rubio’s proposal to decrease U.S. dependency on importing pharmaceuticals from China has gained wider support. Last year, China supplied 30% of the United States’ protective medical gear and about 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Apparently, the United States has decided that imports from China are now a national security threat.

The United States is likely to continue attacking China on multiple fronts after the pandemic. Over the last few years, China has been a rival for the United States, not a friend. However, Trump’s “America First” approach in combination with the new “ends justify the means” policy will leave a bad taste in mouths of U.S. partners for a long time, especially compared to China, which recently started acting responsibly both for humanitarian and “soft power” reasons. On April 6, China assured the world that, because other countries helped it when the epidemic broke out, China will not restrict its exports.