EU Bans American Travel Amid COVID-19
Source：New York Times
From：Taiwan Trade Center Chicago
Update Time：2020/07/14
In a recent response to America’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, countries in the European Union are pushing to ban inbound Americans. While the EU is attempting to handle their own economic crash and overwhelmed hospitals, they don’t feel that America is doing enough. They point to America’s failure to contain the virus, and therefore, want to hinder all Americans from traveling to EU countries. Currently, Russians and Brazilians are unwelcome in the EU, and America’s association with these countries if this mandate goes through would be taken as an insult by the U.S. Specifically, it seems as a direct criticism of President Trump’s response to the outbreak.
In the U.S. alone, there are more than 2 million cases and over 100,000 deaths, leading over all other countries. The ban, if approved, would have a list of exceptions for “acceptable” travellers, aka essential travel, based on how an area is handling it. The final say on the ban will go into effect before July 1st.
This ban is likely a response to Trump’s ban of European travellers earlier in the year, had significantly less cases than America. Currently, Trump affirms that Europe is progressing, and restrictions may be lifted soon. However, he did not acknowledge that it is Europe who has been crucial in diminishing the outbreak while American cases spike.
Further, this ban from the EU would have detrimental effects on the all economies and American international relationships. The tourism industry would be one of the most affected, as there are millions of tourists between the countries each year. The EU has also strongly stated that their list of banned travel countries is strictly scientific, and not related to politics. This list will then be revised every two weeks based on the progression of the virus. These lists are not only an effort to curb the virus, but also to reopen internal borders safely as soon as possible. The EU has struggled with a disconnected approach since borders have closed at the start of the pandemic. With high-risk countries out of the picture due to the ban, the EU is hoping to reunify its member states.
Source：https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/world/europe/coronavirus-EU-American-travel-ban.html