此前，据《纽约邮报》报道，2月25日，美国卫生与公众服务部长亚历克斯·阿扎在接受国会议员质询时称，美国目前医疗物资应急储备严重短缺，医护人员的口罩需求缺口达到近3亿。

　　Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services of the United States, told a Senate panel on Feb 25 that medical supplies were badly needed for the nation’s emergency stockpile, including 300 million masks for health care workers alone.

　　在美国各大电商平台上，口罩及其他防护用品的价格也一路飙升……

　　据《金融时报》3月3日一篇名为《亚马逊打击与新冠病毒相关产品的高售价》的报道称，在亚马逊网站上，有些商家甚至将洗手液和口罩的价格提升至日常零售价的2000%。

　　Hand sanitiser and respiratory masks were in some cases being sold on the site on Monday at a more than 2,000 per cent mark-up, compared to normal retail prices.

　　该报道称，截止稿件发布，在亚马逊网站上，某个未经授权的零售商出售一包20只装的3M口罩，要价高达387美元，而正常零售价仅为14美元左右。

　　正常零售价格 图源CNBC

　　一盒24瓶、每瓶2盎司的Purell牌洗手液，平时售价不到10美元，现在被卖到400美元。

　　Among the many examples still available at the time of writing, a pack of 20 masks made by manufacturer 3M, but sold by an unauthorised reseller, was on sale at $387, compared to a normal retail price of around $14. A pack of 24 2oz bottles of Purell hand sanitiser, typically sold for less than $10 a box, was listed at $400.

　　据CNBC报道，近期美国亚马逊、沃尔玛、eBay、易集等电商平台上的医疗用品的价格都出现了胡乱要价（gouging）的现象。目前这些电商都表示此举是被禁止的，他们已经下架商品或暂停了违反平台规定的商家。

　　Amazon, Walmart, eBay and Etsy are among the online platforms that have been hit with price gouging or misleading medical products. All of the companies say that this activity isn’t allowed on their platforms and that they’ve removed listings or suspended sellers that violate their policies.

　　不过CNBC报道称，现在还是能搜索到一些违反规定乱要价的商品，因而这一问题仍旧存在。

　　But CNBC was able to find examples of products that appeared to flout these rules, illustrating that the problem still persists.

　　 图源 CNBC

　　防控疫情，一线医护物资必不可少。在这种情况下，美国也开始急了……

　　据中国日报报道，当地时间3月6日，有美国媒体报道称，特朗普政府已经批准豁免自中国进口的100多种医疗产品的进口关税，包括口罩、医用手套和消毒湿巾。

　　The Trump administration has granted exclusions from import tariffs for more than 100 medical items imported from China, including face masks, examination gloves and sanitizing wipes.

　　该美国媒体报道称，美国政府这次批准了27家企业的关税豁免申请。这些企业在1月31日的截止日期之前提交了申请，那时疫情主要发生在中国，但是美国公司已着手准备应对国内流行的情况了。

　　根据路透社报道，与往常相比，新冠肺炎疫情暴发期间，很多医疗产品关税豁免的申请处理流程，明显都被加快了。从1月31日截止日期到获准，只用了一多个月的时间。

　　Many of the exclusion requests for medical products appear to have been expedited amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, with approvals granted just over one month past a Jan. 31 application deadline.

　　其他自中国进口产品的免关税申请审批，往往要耗时数月之久。苹果公司去年10月31日，就提交了耳机和智能音箱的关税豁免申请，至今仍未有结果。

　　Requests to exclude other products from President Donald Trump’s Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods have taken months. Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) requests for exclusions on products from AirPod headphones to the HomePod smart speaker filed on Oct. 31 are still pending.

　　其实，美国早就有人在呼吁扩大医疗用品的进口。

　　去年6月，美国贸易代表办公室举办的听证会上，美国卫生行业分销商协会主席马修就曾作证说：“关税给医疗服务和公共卫生带来的风险，大于其给贸易或经济带来的益处”。

　　"The risks to health care and public health from tariffs outweigh any benefit to trade or economics," Matthew Rowan, president of the Health Industry Distributors Association said.

　　可惜当时的美国政府并没有听进去。

　　美国医疗设备贸易协会（AdvaMed）也曾在1月31日写信，呼吁美国贸易代表办公室降低相关商品的关税，“这对帮助控制疫情至关重要”。

　　In a January 31 letter to  the United States Trade Representative (USTR), medtech trade group AdvaMed requested that several items that would be useful during the coronavirus outbreak be exempted from tariffs.

　　然而当时他的呼吁，美国政府也没有理会……

　　据美国商业内幕网（Business Insider）报道，上周，共和党参议员科里·加德纳致信美国贸易代表办公室称，扩大医疗用品的供应对控制美国疫情至关重要。

　　“要确保美国做好准备控制新冠疫情暴发，关键医疗商品的供给充沛至关重要。”

　　"To ensure that the United States is prepared to contain and combat the spread of this outbreak, it is crucial that there is a robust supply of critical medical products," Republican Senator Cory Gardner wrote in a letter to the USTR last week. 

　　“我们必须做好应对医疗供应需求增长的准备，为此，我请求美国贸易代表办公室取消对特定医疗用品加征的有害关税，消除进口障碍。”

　　"We must be prepared for increased medical supply demand in the United States, and to that end, I request that USTR eliminate these harmful tariffs on certain medical products and remove barriers to importation."

　　随着疫情不断升级，医疗防护用品短缺，现在美国政府终于开始采取措施了……