Politico | White House reaches deal with 3M over mask production
- Firm to produce 166.5 million masks over next three months, Trump says, adding that ‘3M saga ends very happily’
- US president had earlier asked company to halt exports to Canada and Latin America, raising concerns about retaliatory measures
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Dan Diamond and David Lim on politico.com on April 6, 2020.
President Donald Trump on Monday said that 3M would produce 166.5 million masks over the next three months, cementing a commitment from a company the administration had blamed for exacerbating a shortage for health workers responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have reached an agreement, a very amicable agreement, with 3M,” Trump announced. “The 3M saga ends very happily.”
“This will go a long way toward solving the mask issue, if not solve it completely,” said one official involved in the negotiations. The new 3M masks are overwhelmingly N95 and KN95 masks and will go toward frontline workers, the official said.
