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By William Mauldin 

The Trump administration is planning to restrict for four months the export of certain face masks and gloves designed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus as the demand for personal protective equipment soars in the U.S. along with the number of cases.

Under the temporary regulation, unveiled Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will have to grant explicit approval for exports of the masks and gloves, with certain exceptions.

The restriction shows that the U.S. is seeking to keep personal protective equipment, or PPE, available to U.S. citizens despite existing private contracts and international trade rules designed to protect global supply chains.

The regulation, expected to be published Friday, fleshes out a presidential memorandum from last week and will be valid for 120 days.

President Trump has criticized 3M Co. for not allocating for domestic use the N95 masks it produces, and invoked a decades-old defense law giving Washington power over domestic production. This week, Mr. Trump said the U.S. government would buy 167 million of the masks from 3M, resolving the dispute. Health experts and mask makers say only a properly used reusable N95 respirator mask certified by an independent agency can guard fully against the coronavirus.

The temporary rule would allow export of masks and gloves if a company has pre-existing contracts for exports and has sold 80% of its products domestically.

The coronavirus pandemic has touched off a trade debate over whether countries should apply trade barriers to secure needed supplies for citizens, or work to keep the trading system open so that countries can make the best use of supply chains.

India has banned the export of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that is being reviewed as a possible treatment for the coronavirus, but New Delhi partially lifted the ban after criticism from Mr. Trump.

The World Trade Organization, which sets the rules for global trade, allows for some temporary export restrictions.

"These measures must be targeted, temporary, and they must be transparent," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters Wednesday. "If all of these things are true, and they're time limited, then these are all right."

In the longer term, broad trade barriers don't make economic sense because they result in inefficient and redundant production that can make countries less efficient and stunt growth, Mr. Rockwell said.

With the coronavirus threat, companies are continuing to re-examine supply chains, and skeptics of free trade are demanding that the U.S. ensure domestic production of critical products.

Write to William Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 08, 2020 17:44 ET (21:44 GMT)

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