As L’Opinion reports, France has imported billions of euros in products to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. 5.9 billion euros were spent on the purchase of masks.
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The subject invaded the public debate at the heart of last spring. Struck, like the rest of the world, by the first wave of the coronavirus, France found itself facing a shortage of masks. To compensate for its empty reserves, the state then turned to China in order to import a large number of masks. And the figures relayed by L’Opinion are dizzying. France has imported 10.3 billion euros of products linked to the health crisis in 2020, mostly masks (for 127,000 tonnes) and reagents for tests, both purchased in China. Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester explained on Friday February 5 that 5.9 billion euros (or 57% of the total amount) were allocated to the purchase of masks (surgical, FFP2 or FFP3, and textiles), including 84 % were imported from China.
1.6 billion euros of reagents for tests purchased from China
As the Opinion also clarifies, the second item of import expenditure corresponds to the reagents used for the tests (1.6 billion euros), also imported from China. France has somewhat rectified the situation in the past six months. Still according to the figures relayed by L’Opinion, imports are now 102 million euros of masks imported in December 2020. At the same time, national production capacities have been multiplied by thirty, from 3 million masks (surgical and FFP2) per week before the crisis , to 100 million per week since January. ” We must calibrate our production capacities so as not to have surpluses “, However warned Franck Riester.
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