Trump, 3M clash over order to produce more face masks for US
President Donald Trump said Friday his administration will try to stop “profiteers” from exporting medical protective gear, shortly after picking a fight with manufacturing giant 3M, a major producer and exporter of face masks used to protect health care workers from the coronavirus.
3M argued that blocking exports will raise “significant humanitarian implications” abroad and lead other countries to retaliate by withholding much-needed medical supplies from the U.S.
Nearly all of 3M’s exports of highgrade N95 masks go to Canada and Latin America, and Canadian officials led by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau took the company’s side.
They lobbied Trump administration officials not to cut off part of their supply.
That was not enough to persuade Trump.
Late Friday, the president announced that he will direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to prevent the export of N95 masks, surgical gloves and other medical protective gear. He said exceptions might be made to help Italy and Spain, which have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.
“We are not happy with 3M,” Trump added during a White House briefing.
The spat between the president and a leading American manufacturer started Thursday, after Trump used his authority under the 1950 Defense Production Act to direct the government to acquire the “appropriate” number of N95 respirators from Minnesota-based
3M and its subsidiaries.
The N95 masks, also called respirators, provide more protection against the virus that causes COVID-19 than do ordinary surgical masks. Governors and hospital officials around the country have warned of a dire shortage of masks and other protective gear for health care workers treating infected patients.
The president followed up his order with a barbed tweet Thursday night.
“We hit 3M hard today after seeing what they were doing with their Masks. ‘P Act’ all the way. Big surprise to many in government as to what they were doing — will have a big price to pay!” Trump tweeted.
The events leading to Trump’s order against 3M began weeks ago. A White House official said when Vice President Mike Pence visited a 3M factory in Minnesota last month, he was told that 3M had 35 million N95 masks that were intended for commercial uses but could be used by health care workers.
This week, after 3M received liability protection that it sought, the White House learned that not all of those masks were ready for the U.S. market, the official said.
Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, has been leading administration contacts with the company to learn where the masks went and why some were not available as promised. The situation led Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss events that have not been made public.
The company said, however, that it has been boosting production for the past two months and working with the Trump administration since last weekend to improve the supply of masks.