The Trump administration has reached a deal with 3M, the US manufacturer, to import 166.5m N95 respirator masks into America from abroad, easing tensions between the White House and the Minnesota-based company.
The agreement was announced by Donald Trump, US president, at his daily news briefing on the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic on Monday afternoon. Crucially it will allow 3M to continue selling its US-made N95 masks to Canada and Latin America, deals that had been threatened by a crackdown by the Trump administration on exports of protective medical equipment.
“So the 3M saga ends very happily,” Mr Trump said.
Mike Roman, the chief executive of 3M, later confirmed details of the deal: “We share the same goals of providing much needed respirators to Americans across our country and combating criminals who seek to take advantage of the current crisis.”
Since the start of the outbreak in the US, 3M had ramped up its US production of N95 masks to 35m a month, and is planning to further increase that in the coming months. However, the White House had been piling pressure on 3M to both limit its sales to foreign buyers, including Canada and in Latin America, and to import N95 masks it was producing internationally for overseas markets.
According to the terms of the deal, 3M will import 55m masks a month into the US for three months, mainly from a flagship facility in China. The Financial Times reported last week that the White House had also put pressure on 3M to send masks to the US from Singapore, a production hub for other Asian markets.
“As the pandemic unfolds in different stages around the world, 3M will continue to work with governments to direct respirators and other supplies to serve areas most in need,” the company said.
The N95 respirator mask, one of 3M’s flagship products, has emerged as a prized asset over the course of the pandemic, with many countries, including the US, belatedly discovering that they did not have sufficient quantities to meet the needs of healthcare workers dealing with coronavirus patients.
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Although the relationship between 3M and the Trump administration initially seemed warm — Mike Pence, the vice-president, visited the company’s headquarters in Minnesota at the start of the crisis in the US — they had recently fallen out. Just on Saturday Mr Trump had said 3M would have “a hell of a price to pay” if it did not do a better job of “taking care” of the US during the pandemic.
Late last week Mr Trump had ordered 3M to prioritise sales to the US government by invoking the Defense Protection Act, a law dating back to the Korean war.
The agreement between the White House and 3M was met with relief in Canada, which is heavily reliant on shipments of the N95 masks from the US to meet its personal protective equipment requirements for medical workers.
Doug Ford, premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, said on Twitter that he was “very pleased” that a “resolution” had been reached. “I want to thank 3M and officials on both sides of the border for their support to ensure Canada’s continued access to vital PPE [personal protective equipment],” Mr Ford said.
Source: Economy - ft.com
