Stop exporting N95 masks to Canada, Trump administration tells U.S. manufacturer

OTTAWA-The Canadian government confronted the ugly face of pandemic protectionism Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a halt to American exports of much-needed specialized medical masks and other medical supplies to Canada and Latin American markets.

Late Friday, the Trump administration ordered the tighter restrictions, saying the Homeland Security Department will work with the federal emergency measures agency to prevent the export of N95 respirators, surgical masks, gloves, and other protective equipment.

"We need these items immediately for domestic use. We have to have 'em," Trump said Friday. He shrugged off Canadian complaints, saying he was not happy with 3M, the Minnesota-based manufacturer that is the dominant supplier of masks in North America.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said a secure supply of the N95 high-grade respirator masks, which are a medical device that capture 95 per cent of airborne virus-laden droplets, is a "life and death" matter for health workers, and said the Canadian government will "pull out all the stops" to reverse the U.S. decision.

The move comes as Canadian hospitals and front-line medical workers are already strapped for supplies, and are rationing masks. Some nurses and doctors report being asked to disinfect and reuse them unless they are performing intubations or mechanical ventilations of infected patients - procedures which can cause patients to cough up infected droplets and spray them all over a room.

Canadian officials now scrambling to buy supplies on international markets say it has become a crazy dog-eat-dog world.

Quebec Premier Franiois Legault said Friday it was a "hard war" after earlier describing tarmac battles to secure equipment that had been purchased. He said at times "you've got too arrive with cash. You need police, people who follow the transport. But don't worry," said Legault. "We're going to do whatever is possible to make sure the orders we place make it to hospitals here in Quebec."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would ensure that Canada never gets left behind again in the race for medical equipment. He called Trump's trade ambassador Robert Lighthizer Thursday to urge the U.S. not to restrict the vital supplies.

"I just can't stress how disappointed I am with President Trump for making this decision," said Ford. "I understand, you know he said, 'I've got to take care of my own people,' but you know, we're connected. Even in saying that, I'm not going to rely on President Trump, I'm not going to rely on any prime minister or president or any country ever again."

"We're gearing up and when those assemblies start, we aren't going to stop. We'll make sure we're going to supply supplies not just for everyone Ontario but everyone in Canada."

Mike Roman, the chairman and CEO of 3M, one of the largest global manufacturers and key supplier to Canada, said the company would comply with Trump's order under the Defence Production Act.

But he criticized the move, warning of "significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator supplies to health-care workers."

"We have a small portion of our respirator production in the U.S. that goes to Canada and Latin America. It's been a long-standing commitment to the health-care workers in those countries, and we are the primary supply for them," Roman told CNBC. He said on the other hand the U.S. is a net importer "with what we're bringing in from China."

The 3M company warned it would likely cause other countries to retaliate, and lead to fewer respirator masks being available to Americans.

However Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada would not retaliate. His government has worked for days to ensure the U.S. understands that trade in essential medical supplies goes both ways across the border, he said.

"These are things that Americans rely on and it would be a mistake to create blockages," Trudeau said, pointing to thousands of nurses and medical personnel from Windsor who cross the border to work in Detroit every day.

Trudeau said he believed the message was getting through. "We continue to be confident that we are going to receive the necessary medical equipment."

Yet it was clear hours later in Trump's news conference that Canada's messages had fallen on deaf ears, although Trump hinted he would not stop orders that countries like hard-hit Italy may already have placed for some supplies.

Trump defended his actions, and said he "took care of the Canadians" and others on cruise ships that he allowed to dock in Florida. "We could have let them float aimlessly."

Trudeau did not say whether he had personally tried to engage Trump on the crucial question of medical supplies.

It is now almost impossible to get a handle on just how big the gap is in Canada's anticipated supply as a result by Trump's order to stop 3M's N95 shipments to Canada, let alone other medical supplies.

Since the onset of the crisis, the federal government had ordered a total of 65 million of the specialized N95 masks. But it is now loath to reveal exactly how many are already held by all provinces and territories, nor what is in the federal emergency stockpile, nor where it was sourcing its new orders - whether all 65 million was to come from 3M or not.

Canadian distributors said Friday Trump's decision on the N95 masks is a huge blow.

Gayle Padvaiskas, a senior executive with Montreal-based Medicom, which has eight manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe and in the U.S. state of Georgia, said the 3M company is the dominant N95 respirator provider for North American markets, including Canada.

Because 3M is the big player in North America, along with Honeywell, Medicom's market for N95s is mostly in Asia, she said."So this action actually puts front line health workers at risk across North America and Latin America if that would hold true."

"It is certainly not what a valued ally would do in terms of restrictions on supply of critical-care materials that are needed to protect front-line workers," she added.

Medicom is among a number of companies that delivered more than 10 million surgical or procedural masks this week to the federal government, and has signed an agreement to provide "many tens of millions more" as part of a deal Ottawa announced to purchase 157 million surgical masks from suppliers.

Medicom now plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Canada in the next two to three months after it closed a plant earlier this year in Granby, QC.

Goran Abramovic, a spokesman for Wurth Canada, another major Canadian distributor of masks and PPE, said in an email interview that supplies for PPE are drying up in both the U.S. and China.

"Things are literally changing by the hour. Our supply chain is being impacted in so many different areas," he said.

He said there is price gouging on all fronts, from manufacturers "who are now charging us five times the original cost for a mask." Abramovic said the company had orders that were placed months ago, that were confirmed and then "all of a sudden cancelled. We also have heard of manufacturers/suppliers giving whatever inventory they have to the highest bidder.

"Lastly, China has once again limited and in some cases stopped the export of the highest demand PPE items like N95 masks."

He said many U.S. vendors "have been directed by state and federal officials to redirect ALL of their shipments to government and health-care contracts. This means we will NOT be receiving stock for many items that are also critical for us to sell to hospitals, first responders, the police force, or anyone considered an 'essential service'."

Sheldon Sturrock, who owns Allied Medical, a Toronto company that supplies masks, gowns, sanitizer and wipes to Canadian paramedic, police and fire departments, said he hasn't received any masks from 3M since January, because the company was worried they would be sold on the black market.

Amid the news, Trudeau said his government would spend $100 million to meet urgent food needs of vulnerable Canadians including living in Indigenous and remote northern communities.

Military reservists are being called up and Rangers in the north are building tents to house medical facilities.

But suddenly, many more Canadians may find themselves vulnerable in a health system that faces a dearth of the key medical masks and other protective equipment for health workers.

Trudeau said Friday the government has struck a deal with Amazon Canada to distribute much needed supplies across Canada as they become available.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said the Trump administration's move presented a "serious situation," and said Canada must also look after its own supplies.

"I believe it is essential for us and critical to find ways to protect our equipment and protect our ability to produce equipment over the next few weeks" he said.

Scheer called Friday for more frequent remote "accountability sessions" of parliamentarians to allow the Opposition parties to hold ministers' feet to the fire as the government grapples with the health and economic damage roiling the country in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc

Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering national politics. Follow him on Twitter: @aballinga