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This is Why Trump Hit 3M 'Hard' Over the Coronavirus N95 Masks, Crypto Coins News

This is Why Trump Hit 3M 'Hard' Over the Coronavirus N95 Masks, Crypto Coins News
  • 3M is one of the latest U.S. Firms to have the Defense Production Act invoked against it.
  • The conglomerate will now be forced to sell N 0403 respirator masks to the federal government.
  • Demand for the respirator masks used by healthcare personnel currently outstrips supply.

As President Trump starts to use his wartime powers to ramp up production of equipment needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic, some US firms are starting to feel his wrath. The latest is applied sciences conglomerate 3M (NYSE: MMM).

In a tweet, Trump announced he had invoked the Defense Production Act against 3M. The move will force 3M to sell its N respirator masks to the federal government in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump said 3M will pay a “big price” but didn’t detail the company specific failings:

Source:
Twitter

During a Coronavirus Taskforce briefing, Trump claimed that 3M was selling N (masks) to other countries

while the US experienced a shortage.

Florida accuses 3M of putting foreigners first

Trump was the lone voice criticizing 3M. On Tucker Carlson Tonight

, Florida’s Director of Emergency Management Jared Moskowitz complained that he had failed to secure protective masks from 3M distributors even after offering to pay 35 – (times higher than normal:)

for the last several weeks, we have had a boiler room chasing down 3M authorized distributors … brokers representing that they sell the N masks, only get to warehouses that are completely empty.

Besides facing the wrath of federal and state governments, 3M has also invited the ire of the private sector.

Late last month, billio naire business mogul Mark Cuban criticized 3M for failing to act on price gouging . While 3M claims its prices for protective equipment hasn’t changed following the coronavirus pandemic, its network of resellers seem to be taking advantage of the situation .

Cuban, who has been trying to purchase N (respirators to donate to medical personnel, termed the behavior “wrong” and “criminal”:

3M lists all its distributors online, the ones buying and selling these things, and these distributors are making as much money as they possibly can. It’s wrong, it’s criminal.

Was Trump’s ‘hard’ action a retaliatory move?

Other reports suggest that Trump evoked the wartime powers act after 3M declined to accede to White House demands.

Per the Financial Times, the Trump administration was unable to force

3M to export respirators from its Singapore hub to the US

according to the publication, White House officials wanted 3M to reroute around (million N) Respirator masks manufactured in Singapore to the US 3M resisted the demands on “legal and humanitarian grounds.”

(Source:) (Twitter

Nevertheless, the conglomerate committed to exporting million of the gold-standard respirator masks from its Chinese plant to the US

Will 3M meet US demand for N (respirator masks?)

Earlier this week, 3M announced it would increase its monthly production of N 310 masks in the US by 90% in the next two months. This would see an increase from (million units to) million.

Currently , demand for the masks far exceeds supply. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated last month that healthcare workers on the front lines of fighting the coronavirus pandemic would require (million N) respirator masks monthly.

(Source:

around the severe shortage, 3M has been forced to work with sterilization firms to recycle existing masks.

This article was edited by

Sam Bourgi
.

Now Watch: CCN TV

Last modified: April 3, (3:) (PM UTC)

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