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Canada Warns US Against Halting Supply of Masks Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Steve Herman

   WHITE HOUSE - Canada is warning the administration of U.S. President
   Donald Trump about halting the supply of masks needed by first
   responders in the international battle against the coronavirus.
   "The level of integration between our economies goes both ways across
   the border," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. "It
   would be a mistake to create blockages or reduce the amount of
   back-and-forth trade of essential goods and services, including medical
   goods across our border. That is the point we're making to the American
   administration right now."
   Canada will "pull out all the stops" to prevent the United States from
   blocking the exports of some medical equipment, said Deputy Prime
   Minister Chrystia Freeland.
   The Trump administration Thursday invoked the Defense Production Act to
   require 3M, a Minnesota-based multinational conglomerate, to prioritize
   orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for N95
   respirators.
   There are "significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator
   supplies to healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America, where we
   are a critical supplier of respirators," the company said in a
   statement Friday. "In addition, ceasing all export of respirators
   produced in the United States would likely cause other countries to
   retaliate and do the same, as some have already done. If that were to
   occur, the net number of respirators being made available to the United
   States would actually decrease."

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