Research Fellow talks about the impact of COVID-19 on trade and supply chain in the Asia Pacific

Hinrich Foundation Research Fellow Stephen Olson took part in a virtual roundtable discussion on the trade and supply chain management during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosted by Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum on April 1, 2020.

The virtual event, titled “Trade and Supply Chain Resilience in the Asia Pacific”, discussed the impact of COVID-19 in re-setting the global economy, new norms for international interactions and domestic policy-making.

The speakers at the roundtable included:

• Alan Bollard, Professor, Victoria University of Wellington
• Denis Hew, Director, Policy Support Unit, APEC
• Stephen Olson, Research Fellow, Hinrich Foundation
• Donghyun Park, Principal Economist, Asian Development Bank

During the discussion, Olson pointed out that COVID-19 is forcing countries in the Asia Pacific to reconsider their approach to trade and how it can approach the vulnerabilities and risks that accompany trade and deeper integration.

He also said that “countries are increasingly leery about over-dependence on one country, either for critical products or as an export market.”

For US and China relations, Olson opined that COVID-19 will complicate their relations in three distinct but closely intertwined ways: a) trade dependencies are being rethought, 2) prospects for the re-escalation of trade tensions are mounting, and 3) mutual trust is deteriorating.  

Learn more about the impact of COVID-19 on US-China relations in one of our recent articles.

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