The COVID-19 outbreak has gotten the world’s leaders into a frenzy as they scramble to prevent further spread of the coronavirus in their respective countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump is one of them.
Trump Going to Use Laws to Force 3M to Produce More Masks; Says They Have a ‘Big Price to Pay’
U.S. President Donald Trump addressed 3M Co in a tweet late on Thursday after he announced that he was invoking the Defense Production Act to get the company to produce face masks.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2020
Lest you can’t see it, he said:
“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!”
He even mentions that they “have a big price to pay”.
Indeed, face masks are a hot commodity as of late given the current coronavirus situation.
It’s especially important for front-liners who work in the health sector and for those who are ill to wear surgical masks, so it’s understandable that there is a pressing need for more supplies.
Trump Told Ventilator Producer GM To Stop “Wasting Time”
But it seems that Trump isn’t just pressing for more masks. Just last Friday, he invoked emergency powers to require General Motors Co to build ventilators to help coronavirus patients.
This came after he accused the largest U.S. automaker of “wasting time” during the negotiation process.
I can feel his urgency already.
According to Reuters, Trump has been receiving pressure for not moving fast enough to stimulate the production of medical equipment like surgical masks and ventilators.
Since then, he has invoked the Defense Production Act and chastised GM for not working fast even after they had earlier announced that it would start building ventilators in the next few weeks.
Trump had also been angry with the company’s decision to close an assembly plant in Ohio and criticized GM’s prior decisions to build plants outside the United States.
GM said in response to Trump that it has been working with ventilator firm Ventec Life Systems and GM suppliers “around the clock for over a week to meet this urgent need” and said its commitment to Ventec’s ventilators “has never wavered.”
So what’s this act?
Defence Production Act
Lest you’re unaware, the Defense Production Act grants the president power to expand industrial production of any key materials or products for national security and other reasons.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and other Democrats had pressed for Trump to invoke the act, but the president had been reluctant to, until now of course.
Democratic U.S. Senator Ed Markey said, “About time. Now, tell us every day: which companies will be making more of this equipment, how much is being made, and where the equipment is going.”
In other words, as Singapore uses the Infectious Diseases Act to “force” people to keep a safe distance, US is using the Defense Production Act to “force” companies to make more life-saving devices.
Governments all over the world are flexing man.
