China implemented new policies today that widened its ban on ivory import as China comes under pressure from other major nations. China has one of the highest prices of ivory in the world, reaching up to $1,100 per kilogram. Before this new legislation, China had allowed the resale of ivory brought to the country before 1989. However, activists have argued for years that the trade of legal ivory acts a a cover for illegal ivory imports. In his last visit to the United States, President Jinping was asked by the White House to "commit to enact nearly complete bans on ivory imports and exports. Unfortunately, these newly enacted policies do not outlaw the existing domestic trade of ivory in China. It will be interesting to see how these new policies affect the worldwide trade of ivory.
http://phys.org/news/2016-03-china-widens-ivory-imports.html
The most surprising part of this article was that of all places, China had created a ban on ivory trade. Though it is not all that surprising as it being a black market item, it was not accounted for in overall GDP. While ivory trade has decreased over the years, overall it does increase the overall living standard for many countries, particularly Africa and China.
ReplyDeleteI am kind of shocked that China has not banned the trade of ivory yet. You would think that their Western trade partners would pressure them into banning it. However, these new policies seem to be a step in the right direction. Hopefully China will eventually completely ban ivory trade in the near future.
ReplyDeleteThis article was interesting to me because it made me realize how socially aware countries around the world are finally becoming. I would have hoped that the trade would have been banned years ago due to pressure from western nations and the endangerment of the species, but it seems like things are looking up. More interestingly is the economic aspect of the trade since it will still be under the table and a black market trading area it will be discounted from the actual GDP. I would predict that this black market trade would usually provide some sort of income for the after effects will be generally something unique to look into.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's surprising its taking them this long to make these changes. However, some people who are desperately poor are able to profit from poaching in order to support their families. As unethical as it might be, in some cases the people are in dyer need of getting money to provide for their family and poaching may help them to do that. I hope we can find ways to support those individuals while also protecting endangered animals.
ReplyDeleteI am very surprised that China has not already banned the trading of ivory. There has to be some sort of outside forces/factors that are attempting to sway China into banning ivory trade - i.e. other surrounding countries. Banning ivory trade could help China down the road but they are definitely on the right path with new policy implements. With that being said, countless people in China will suffer greatly from an ivory trade ban. Ivory could be the sole income of many already low-income Chinese people, so that brings up the question of, what will be the effect of a trade ban?
ReplyDeleteAfter taking a few economics classes it really makes you appreciate all sides of the story on arguments like this. For example, this case seems pretty black and white that the government should ban the sale of ivory and that is the only option. However, looking from their perspective, we learned that protectionalist policies like these reduce the net exports, thus, reducing the output of the economy. I do feel like in this case they did the right thing and the negative traits of the ivory trade outweigh the economic loss.
ReplyDeleteI have read that these people whom import ivory do not actually even know where the ivory comes from and the impact it has had on the near extinction of these animals. It would be very satisfying if the rest of the major importers of ivory do the same and implement these bans.
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