The cost differential is driven by air pollution, interconnection and the economics of fuel efficiency.

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Otherwise, margin increase would come from offering an equivalent level of service at a better production-to-retail cost differential.

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Some of that cost differential could be offset by higher productivity and greater labour flexibility in western countries.

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On average, SSDs are at least twice as expensive as regular HDDs and this cost differential is still causing price-conscious customers and enterprises to prefer HDDs.

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And the cost differential between floating them 20 miles offshore from a domestic shipyard vs. 7, 000 miles from China makes this a fairly Asia-proof business as well.

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Thus, the price differential caused by the antidumping order bestowed a cost advantage of 19 percent on Chinese competitors, 17 percent on European competitors, and 16 percent on NAFTA competitors.

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In the case of trade bans the price differential has to account for black market risk such as the risk of imprisonment and the cost of bribes.

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It recommends building an international consensus on the differential pricing of patented pharmaceuticals, meaning that poor countries would have access to expensive drugs at the cost of manufacture, rather than paying the far higher rates charged in rich countries.

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