Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy Volume 16 Issue 2 Spring Article 2 Spring 4-17-2021 Trade War, PPE, and Race Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez Chapman Univ. School of Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njlsp Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Race Commons, Law and Society Commons, and the Other Public Health Commons Recommended Citation Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez, Trade War, PPE, and Race, 16 NW. J. L. & SOC. POL'Y. 43 (2021). https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njlsp/vol16/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy by an authorized editor of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Scholarly Commons. Copyright 2021 by Ernesto Hernández-López Volume 16 (Spring 2021) Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy Trade War, PPE, and Race Ernesto Hernández-López* ABSTRACT Tariffs on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as face masks and gloves, weaken the American response to COVID. The United States has exacerbated PPE shortages with Section 301 tariffs on these goods, part of a trade war with China. This has a disparate impact felt by minority communities because of a series of health inequity harms. COVID’s racial disparity appears in virus exposure, virus susceptibility, and COVID treatments. This Article makes legal, policy, and race-and-health arguments. Congress has delegated to the United States Trade Representative expansive authority to increase tariffs.