Trump Administration Orders 167 Million Face Masks from 3M -- Update
April 06 2020 - 6:36PM
Dow Jones News
By Alex Leary and Austen Hufford
The Trump administration will buy nearly 167 million face masks
from 3M Co. over the next three months, a White House official
said, as officials scramble to find protective equipment for
front-line workers confronting the coronavirus pandemic.
3M came into conflict with President Trump last week. He
criticized 3M's mask-making efforts and invoked the Defense
Production Act against the company. That Korean War-era law gives
the president power to compel manufacturers to make operational
changes in the national interest.
An official said on Monday that the Trump administration didn't
plan to take any further action against 3M under the DPA in
addition to the mask purchases. The administration will purchase
55.5 Million masks from 3M in each of the next three months, the
official said.
The order, for 166.5 million face masks total, includes
respirators that are approved under typical N95 standard -- so
called because those masks block 95% of very small particles -- as
well as orders for products certified under a similar standard used
in China known as KN95.
3M, which confirmed the purchase, has doubled its production of
masks in recent months to about 100 million N95 masks globally each
month, including 35 million in the U.S. 3M said last week that it
would raise production in the U.S. to a monthly rate of 40 million
within weeks, and that it would also import 10 million masks from
its operations in China with the administration's help.
Other manufacturers including Honeywell International Inc. are
also raising mask output in the U.S. The Department of Health and
Human Services estimated in March that the U.S. would need about
300 million N95 masks a month to confront a pandemic.
Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com and Austen Hufford at
austen.hufford@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 06, 2020 18:21 ET (22:21 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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