The Impact of COVID-19 on International Trade: Differences Between Importing and Exporting Countries

Abstract

During the pandemic period, import and export trade has been affected seriously. This study investigates the different implications on importing and exporting countries of international trade under the COVID-19 pandemic. The data in this article include the top five net exporters and top five net importers in 2019 ranked by their account balance. After the comparison, there are four findings have been found. First, the epidemic has had a severe negative impact on international trade for both importing and exporting countries. Second, the impacts of the pandemic on exporting countries are relatively deeper and consist longer than the importing countries. Third, unlike international trade on a global scale, intra-Asian trade has fewer negative impacts on exporting countries. Fourth, the negative impact of the COVID-19 burden on exporters is more pronounced in developing country exports rather than developed countries