Join us for a free one-day workshop for educators at the Japanese American National Museum, hosted by the USC U.S.-China Institute and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. This workshop will include a guided tour of the beloved exhibition Common Ground: The Heart of Community, slated to close permanently in January 2025. Following the tour, learn strategies for engaging students in the primary source artifacts, images, and documents found in JANM’s vast collection and discover classroom-ready resources to support teaching and learning about the Japanese American experience.
The world is running out of N95 masks
Have you been able to find an N95 mask? The issue with masks is an issue with global trade.
April 9, 2020
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N95 face masks are the gold standard for protection against COVID-19. They use a special fabric that blocks 95% of small particles, unlike the much easier to produce fabric surgical masks, and are tested and certified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). They're in high demand all over the world, which has led to a huge shortage in the U.S. Individuals, companies, and governments have all tried to get these masks into the hands of healthcare workers, but simply moving masks around isn't a long term solution.
Before COVID-19, China produced half of the world's face masks, nearly 20 million per day. As the virus was spreading in China, they stopped exporting masks and imported most of the world's supply. U.S. companies donated too, including a million N95 masks from 3M. But when COVID-19 started making its way around the world, there weren't enough N95 masks to go around. China’s ramped up total mask production to 116 million a day, but they're still only making 1.6 million N95 masks a day because the special fabric is in short supply.
In February, the Department of Health and Human Services estimated that the U.S. will need 300 million N95 masks to combat the coronavirus. More than six weeks later, the U.S. is still struggling to produce or import the masks it needs. Under pressure, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the importation of masks from China and other countries that may not be N95 certified but meet similar local standards. 3M, America’s top producer, is turning out 35 million masks a month in the U.S. and has just pledged to bring in 55 million masks a month from its factories in China.
The issue with N95 masks is a microcosm of global trade as a whole. If the world relies too heavily on one country for one product—even if that country is itself—a crisis can cripple the entire global supply. Diversifying the source of essential items around the world may be key to ensuring resiliency in the face of the next global challenge.
More about China and N95 Masks:
- Is China's "mask diplomacy" faltering?
- Chinese are impressed with Japan's response
- Printing masks are like "printing money"
- Taiwan is cranking up mask production
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October 20, 2024
October 20, 2024
Please join us for the Grad Mixer! Hosted by USC Annenberg Office of International Affairs, Enjoy food, drink and conversation with fellow students across USC Annenberg. Graduate students from any field are welcome to join, so it is a great opportunity to meet fellow students with IR/foreign policy-related research topics and interests.
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Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - 3:00pm
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Thursday, November 7, 2024 - 4:00pm
Join us for an in-person conversation on Thursday, November 7th at 4pm with author David M. Lampton as he discusses his new book, Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War. The book examines the history of U.S.-China relations across eight U.S. presidential administrations.