Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has warned Donald Trump that his decision to stop a US manufacturing company from sending respirators to Canada could prompt retaliatory measures.
The Trump administration ordered 3M, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of protective healthcare equipment, to stop exporting protective masks to Canada and Latin America on Thursday.
Mr Trudeau said medical equipment “goes both ways across the border,” and noted that thousands of nurses travel from Canada to work in Detroit every day.
“These are things that Americans rely on and 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,” he said.
Mr Trump said Wednesday that he used the Defence Production Act, a Korean War-era law, to compel 3M to sell its equipment to the US government.
Georgia assistant principal accused of stealing nearly $1K in Walmart merchandise at self-checkout
NJ councilwoman condemns ‘ignorance’ of comparing ICE agents to Nazis during heated meeting
Trump taps Colin McDonald for newly-created role of assistant attorney general for fraud enforcement
Ilhan Omar demands impeachment of Noem amid DHS funding battle: ‘We must abolish ICE’
Video appears to show Alex Pretti spit at federal agents, violently damage SUV days before fatal CBP shooting
Ilhan Omar blames Trump’s rhetoric for surge in death threats, including spray attack: ‘So obsessed with me’
Rubio Defends Maduro Raid in Fiery Exchange with Rand Paul: ‘We Did Not Remove an Elected Official’
Breaking: New Video Reportedly Shows Alex Pretti Violently Attacking, Destroying Equipment on ICE Vehicle Days Before Shooting
Delusional Rocker Neil Young Gifts Music Catalog to Greenland, Claims It Will Help Them Cope With Trump
‘This Is Not a Game Show’: Marco Rubio Refuses to Go Along with Dem Senator’s Hearing Tactics
Did You Catch the Fatal Flaw in Obama’s Comments on the Pretti Death? It’s a Whopper That Even He Can’t Get Away With
Amazon Enacts Mass Layoffs as AI Rocks Tech Industry
Fox News Poll: 59% of voters say ICE is too aggressive, up 10 points since July
Fox News Poll: Donald Trump starts 2026 with 44% approval
Chuck Schumer lays out ICE demands to avoid government shutdown
“We hit 3M hard today after seeing what they were doing with their Masks. ‘P Act’ all the way,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. “Big surprise to many in government as to what they were doing — will have a big price to pay!” he added.
Hospitals across the world are facing severe shortages of protective equipment, which puts medical staff at greater risk as they treat coronavirus patients. In the US, many doctors and nurses are re-using their masks every day.
3M said it had been asked by the White House to limit exports of protective equipment manufactured in the US to Canada and Latin America, which the company opposed on “humanitarian grounds.”
The company said in a statement that there were “significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator supplies to healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America, where we are a critical supplier of respirators. 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.”
Story cited here.
