U.S. has trailed others in getting gear from China
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has been consistently outpaced by global competitors in the race to get masks and other medical supplies from China, as other countries moved more forcefully than the Trump administration to secure vital material to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, interviews with business leaders in the U.S. and China show.
That has worsened supply shortages across the U.S. health care system, exposing American doctors and nurses to greater risk and leaving hospitals and clinics in markedly worse shape than those in much of Western Europe, East Asia, Canada or Australia.
“The fact is almost everyone else is having a much easier time,” said Isaac Larian, founder of toy-making giant MGA Entertainment, who has been doing business in China for decades and last month began working with Chinese manufacturers to get medical supplies for desperate American hospitals.
“You’ve got to be quick and nimble. … The U.S. has been very slow.”
But the Trump administration, unlike governments in many other wealthy countries, waited months to develop a centralized, coordinated strategy to secure protective equipment from China, the world’s leading manufacturer of face masks, gowns and other personal protective gear.
President Donald Trump, who at first dismissed equipment shortages and accused medical workers of hoarding, has touted more recent efforts to speed production and delivery of supplies, including an effort to subsidize air cargo flights from China for U.S. medical distributors.
Trump continues to direct states to make their own arrangements to get medical equipment, a marked contrast with many other countries, which have worked more aggressively to leverage their centralized purchasing power to buy from Chinese manufacturers.
Kent Kedl, a Shanghaibased partner at Control Risks, a global risk and strategic consultant, said European governments started contacting his office in early March about securing medical supplies.
Kedl never heard from the U.S. officials. Asked where the Americans have been, Kedl said: “I don’t know, to be honest. We’ve talked to American contacts at the embassy. … And they say, ‘No, we’re OK. We’ve got it taken care of.’”
The Trump administration was also slow to clarify regulations about which protective masks could be imported from China, further holding up the flow of supplies.
Only in early April — weeks after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had advised hospitals with mask shortages to use bandannas for medical staff — did the Food and Drug Administration authorize the use of Chinese-made KN95 respirator masks, a commonly made derivative of the more trusted N95 mask.
That delay caused widespread confusion among medical providers, many of which were reluctant to use KN95 masks without FDA clearance, though they were being widely used in other countries.
Since late February, the European Union has been working to make bulk purchases of medical supplies for its member countries.
Ker Gibbs, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, said the Italian and German governments quickly coordinated large shipments of medical supplies earlier this year.
“Everybody’s going after the same supply,” Gibbs added.
But it was not until April 2 that the U.S. State Department contacted the American Chamber of Commerce for help vetting potential Chinese suppliers.
One manufacturer said he looked at supplying states in need of medical supplies but found the procurement systems nearly impossible to navigate.
“This is where government has to step in and take the bull by the horns and manage this thing,” said Michael Crotty, president of Golden Pacific Fashion & Design Co., a textile company based outside Shanghai that started sourcing masks for private U.S. buyers in mid-March.
“It should have been handled much earlier,” Crotty said.