The influx of cheap Chinese imports has devastated U.S. manufacturers of face masks and medical gear, highlighting vulnerabilities exposed during the Covid pandemic when exports were halted. Despite efforts to reduce dependency on foreign products and support domestic manufacturers, many states continue to rely on inexpensive Chinese imports. Lloyd Armbrust, CEO of a Texas mask production startup, expressed concerns regarding the sustainability of industrial policies aimed at independence from China, revealing the complexities of reshoring manufacturing while facing competitive market demands.
"The industry's demise had calamitous consequences during the Covid pandemic, when Beijing halted exports and American hospital workers found themselves at the mercy of a deadly airborne virus that quickly filled the nation's emergency rooms and morgues."
"On one hand, this is the kind of medicine we need if we really are going to become independent of China. On the other hand, this is not responsible industrial policy."
"Despite bipartisan vows to end the nation's dependency on foreign medical products and to shore up the dozens of domestic manufacturers that sprung up during the pandemic, federal agencies and state governments have resumed their reliance on inexpensive Chinese imports."
"The United States once dominated the field of personal protective equipment, or P.P.E. The virus-filtering N95 mask and the disposable nitrile glove are American inventions, but China now produces more than 90 percent of the medical gear worn by American health care workers."
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