Second only to Germans as exporters of medical products – and with medical-products exports much more than double those of China – American producers depend heavily on export sales. In 2019, these sales amounted to $116.6 billion. We estimate that this figure is roughly 22 percent of total U.S. production of medical products. Losing even just half of these sales would render unprofitable much of America’s production capacity, larger production runs within existing capacity and some R&D. And large losses of export sales are almost certain if an export ban is imposed. Foreign buyers would respond by sourcing more of their medical supplies during normal times from countries less likely than the United States to ban exports during crisis times.
Next post: Quotation of the Day…
Previous post: Bonus Quotation of the Day…
