The united states federal government has recently requested that 3m not only remove its mask produced abroad to the united states, but also prevent it from exporting n95 masks to canada, latin america, etc. 3m issued a statement on 3 april warning that this would be contrary to humanitarian law or lead to “retaliation” by other countries。
Trump announced last month that he would launch the cold war defense production act, which gave the president of the united states direct executive power to order united states enterprises to complete production orders。
At the white house outbreak briefing on 2 april, local time, trump stated that he had signed an order under the defence production act authorizing the united states federal agencies to obtain from 3m the n95 mask they considered necessary to fight the disease, “in the hope that they (3m) can do what they should do”
The white house announced on 2nd that the united states government had invoked the defense production act to intervene in orders from 3m
According to peter navarro, the white house trade advisor and coordinator of the defence production act, who expressed concern about the return to the united states of 3m products from other parts of the world, “we have encountered problems in ensuring that the 3m products produced globally are in sufficient quantities to return to the right places”
Just later that day, trump, in another tweet, shelled 3m, claiming that after seeing how the company handled mask production, “we hit them so hard today”. It stated that the defence production act had been in place and that the practice of 3m had surprised many government officials, and that the company would pay “a great price”。
Trump did not specify what had happened between the 3m and the government, but it can be seen from the statement issued by 3m on 3 march。
In the statement, 3m indicated that the united states federal government had formally invoked the defence production act to require the company to give priority to the united states federal emergency response agency (fema) n95 mask order. “last weekend, in cooperation with the government, it requested 3m to increase the number of masks imported into our current overseas operations into the united states ... At the beginning of this month, for example, we obtained approval from china to export 10 million n95 masks produced in china by 3m to the united states.”
“(united states) the government has also demanded that the 3m stop exporting the masks we currently produce in the united states to the canadian and latin american markets. The statement warns that “the cessation of the provision of masks to canadian and latin american health personnel will have a significant humanitarian impact, as we are important suppliers of masks in both regions”
The statement added that “the cessation of the export of masks produced in the united states could lead to reprisals by other countries and the same action ... If this happens, the number of masks provided to the united states will actually decrease, contrary to what we and the government seek for the american people.”
Finally, 3m stated that the company would not raise the price of the mask and would continue to combat price hikes and unauthorized resales. It will also work closely with the federal government to implement the defense production act “to the maximum extent possible for the production of masks for united states medical workers”
3m is the main producer of n95 masks in the united states, and the wall street journal 3rd reported that the company and six smaller companies currently produce approximately 50 million n95 masks per month in the united states, well below the 300 million per month estimated by the united states department of health and human services during the epidemic in march。
3m, ceo mike roman, made it clear during his interview that “the demand for our products has exceeded our capacity”
Notably, on 3 april local time, later on the day of the 3m statement, trump again stated at the white house outbreak briefing that the defence production act would be invoked to prevent “unscrupulous agents and traffickers” from exporting scarce health and medical supplies。
According to trump, the department of homeland security and the federal emergency management agency will work together to implement this directive to prevent the export of n95 masks, medical surgical masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment, “which we urgently need for domestic use and which we must have”
Trudo: this is a mistake
Canada has also reacted when 3m and the united states federal government are accusing each other of mask exports。
The canadian broadcasting corporation (cbc) reported that canadian prime minister trudo has stated on three days that it is “wrong to create barriers or reduce movement of essential goods and services, including medical supplies”, “that is what we are clearly expressing to the united states government”
It has been reported that there are no n95 mask producers in canada and that the pressure on the global supply chain caused by the current round of the coronary epidemic has left the country in a precarious situation. This tuesday, the trudo government just announced that it would spend $2 billion on the purchase of medical protection equipment, including 60 million n95 masks, all from foreign suppliers。
Trudo also reminded the united states on the third day that thousands of nurses in canada cross the american and caribbean border every day to work in a hospital in detroit, demonstrating the need for countries to work together to stop the spread of the new coronary epidemic, “which americans depend on”
The governor of ontario, doug ford, also indicated that communication had been made with the united states trade representative robert lightizer regarding the united states ban on 3m exports of medical equipment。
