The pandemic made self-sufficiency seem alluring, but as defenders of free trade pointed out, the discussion about the global supply of PPE was based in large part on false premises. China was far from monopolizing global production.18 And the idea of a comprehensive reshoring, on account of Covid, was illusory as well.19 It was not just costs, but sophisticated networks of suppliers and systems of logistics that made China attractive for modern manufacturing. Those advantages did not evaporate overnight because of a few substandard masks or defective Covid tests.
