Trump Eases Covid-19 Export Ban Amid Backlash Around World
- Move comes after 3M secures 167 million N95 masks from China
- Aide Navarro promised U.S. borders were “locked and loaded”
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President Donald Trump eased restrictions on exports of masks and other protective equipment needed to fight the Covid-19 pandemic just days after their introduction as he confronted a backlash from allies around the world.
Faced with domestic criticism of his administration’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis and cries of shortages from hospitals on the front lines, Trump late Friday had imposed a ban on exports of N95 masks, surgical gloves and other protective equipment.
But late Monday the president reversed course, saying the 3M Co., with which he had a public fight last week, had agreed to produce 55 million masks a month for U.S. health care workers and to import 167 million masks made by its facilities in China.