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Trump tells GM: Stop 'wasting time', build ventilators to address coronavirus

Published 03/27/2020, 11:40 AM
Updated 03/27/2020, 08:15 PM
© Reuters. U.S. President Trump leads daily coronavirus response briefing at the White House in Washington

© Reuters. U.S. President Trump leads daily coronavirus response briefing at the White House in Washington

By David Shepardson and Ben Klayman

WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday invoked emergency powers to require General Motors Co (N:GM) to build much-needed ventilators for coronavirus patients after he accused the largest U.S. automaker of "wasting time" during negotiations.

Trump, who has been on the defensive for not moving faster to compel the production of medical equipment, for the first time invoked the Defense Production Act, saying GM was not moving quickly enough even though earlier on Friday the largest U.S. automaker announced it would begin building ventilators in the coming weeks.

Asked about negotiations with GM over ventilators, Trump expressed anger with the company's decision to close an assembly plant in politically important Ohio. He also criticized GM's prior decisions to build plants outside the United States.

"I didn't go into it with a favorable view," Trump told a news conference of the GM talks. White House adviser Peter Navarro said the administration ran into "roadblocks" with GM this week.

GM said in a statement in response to Trump that it has been working with ventilator firm Ventec Life Systems and GM suppliers "around the clock for over a week to meet this urgent need" and said its commitment to Ventec's ventilators "has never wavered."

The act grants the president power to expand industrial production of any key materials or products for national security and other reasons. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and other Democrats have urged him to invoke the act, but the president had been reluctant to do so until now.

Democratic U.S. Senator Ed Markey said, "About time. Now, tell us every day: which companies will be making more of this equipment, how much is being made, and where the equipment is going."

On Friday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States topped 100,000, the highest in the world according to a Reuters tally. The U.S. death toll topped 1,550. [L1N2BK21G]

Trump also said countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Italy need ventilators and that if the excess volume is not needed, the United States can export them.

Earlier, Trump lashed out at GM and Ford Motor Co (M:F) for moving too slowly just hours before GM said it would build medical equipment at an Indiana plant.

Trump criticized the U.S. automakers and said he expected the United States would make or obtain 100,000 additional ventilators within the next 100 days.

The attack on the automakers coincided with rising tension between Trump and the Democratic governors of New York and Michigan, who have criticized the administration's response to the COVID-19 epidemic. On Thursday evening, Trump questioned in an interview on the Fox News network whether New York state needed 30,000 ventilators to cope with rising numbers of coronavirus patients, as Cuomo had said.

GM and Ford separately announced earlier this week they were working with medical equipment companies to help boost ventilator production.

GM and its partner Ventec confirmed after Trump's tweets that the No. 1 U.S. automaker would deploy 1,000 workers to build ventilators at its Kokomo, Indiana, parts plant and ship as soon as next month. It was aiming to build more than 10,000 per month with the ability to go higher. Suppliers in the effort were told the target was 200,000 ventilators.

But early Friday, before GM issued its release, Trump attacked the automaker and Chief Executive Mary Barra on Twitter, reviving his grievance with Barra for closing and selling a car factory in Ohio, a state critical to the president's re-election campaign.

"General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday.

"They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed ventilators, 'very quickly'," Trump said on Twitter of GM and Ventec's effort. "Now they are saying it will only be 6000, in late April, and they want top dollar."

Trump's comments about GM and Ford came after a New York Times story Thursday suggested the White House had backed away from announcing a major ventilator deal with GM and Ventec because the price tag was too high. That drew criticism from Democrats.

Following Trump's tweets, Ford said it was moving as fast as it could to gear up its ventilator manufacturing efforts and was in "active conversations" with the Trump administration seeking approvals. Ford said it has "teams working flat-out with GE Healthcare (N:GE) to boost production of simplified ventilators."

Other automakers have said they are working to produce ventilators, masks and other medical equipment.

On Friday, Toyota Motor Corp (T:7203) said it was "finalizing agreements to begin working with at least two companies that produce ventilators and respirators to help increase their capacity."

New York City Mayor Bill be Blasio on Friday said on Twitter that Tesla Inc (O:TSLA) had agreed to donate hundreds of ventilators to hospital intensive care units in New York City and the state of New York.

    Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk in response said the electric carmaker was helping locate and deliver existing ventilators.

    Tesla on Friday did not respond to a request for comment on where it got the ventilators and whether the company was producing any ventilators of its own, something Musk has said the company will do.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A ventilator is seen at the New York City Emergency Management Warehouse

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) and Ferrari (MI:RACE) previously said they were exploring making ventilators in Italy.

Latest comments

Maybe someone should have yelled that at him 2 months ago and saved 100,000 lives. What a pompous ********
Donald sure yells a lot at people that he wants to motivate on Twitter with his all-caps and exclamation points. Wonder if that will work?
who wasted time?
ABC poll, the hill have u 52%, just add 5%"more, bare minimum, 57%
Here is a song i wrote about trump
We as a nation need to wake up and stop blaming and blaming. It is ok to say we screwed up big time. When we do that, nations will open up their arms to help us. China was not late to tell anyone. The virus is called Covid-19. That meant it was known in Dec 2019, why is it 3 months later, we still do not have enough masks and ventilators?
This is what happens with a con man in charge.
Trump is doing one hll of a Good Job dealing with crisis give him a break~wholly McDuck what you people want?
A leader.
  Trump does not follows but Leads every step
Hahahaha. Leading his base off a cliff like lemmings. Enjoy the kool-aid nap.
GM was already in the process of setting up plants to manufacture ventilators. This is for show to pretend he's doing something.
His rating is up. That is the reality. Talk *******if u want.
who gives a *****about polls? It's not like it's based on popular vote.
do us citizens have second option but follow him? rating up doesn't mean he is good, because no options now
Trump approval rating goes up. That speaks.
Rallying around the flag is not uncommon. On 9/11 Bush went from 51% to 85%. Desert Storm saw a spike from 59% to 89% approval. Iran hostage, Carter went from 32% to 58%. The only thing that speaks is that Trump rally around the flag effect is miniscule. That’s because he dulls it by being a horrible leader.
Not a surprise that Trump has been dragging his feet on invoking emergency powers. Silver spoons drag their feet until they realize this is a real job. If it wasnt an election year, he wouldnt even know this happening at all.
LOLLLLLLL...Trump cannot waste time anymore. Because he is losing.
The guy that wasted the most time starts ordering others to not waste time. What a looney. You Americans got yourself a looney for president..
Hey Trump, You should have listened to your advisers in Feb and started the processor.
Mr President, thumbs up, beat those arsholl!
why is there a shortage of masks and ventilators? my neighbor just told me he got 2 boxes of surgical masks from his daughter who is a doctor at a local hospital. of course he didn't offer me any but that's beside the point isn't it?
I suppose thye shortage applies to those who aren't doctors? Like us?
I knew some bought lots in jan. I laughed at them. Now they r laughing at me.
why isn't the DPA enacted? He can throw these Corp criminals in jail instead of twit shaming them.
Dyson got their ventilator production up and running in 10 days. They've already shipped ventilators. Ford and GM should be embarrassed, but they won't be. They'll charge top dollar and then have their hand out for that good ol' stimulus money from the government.
where are those China bashers now? they're handling the virus outbreak better than us and had no data or other countries experience to rely on since it started there. people in glass countries shouldn't throw stones. If you want to call this the Chinese flu, then rename the Spanish flu the American flu, after all that's where it comes from
H1N1 was from Maxico. Hard to believe so many people dont know this. Unbilevable!
You're a Cobra lover, right? They just *** You actually seem no different. BTW, It's not the Chinese virus, It's the Wuhan Virus! Don't know where you been but get the "BatSoup" outa yer ears so you hear it correctly Kenny.
Yes #19, you and your "friends" would like that, i'm sure.
Just call up China for help... they can produce in record orders in no time. China is already helping many nations with masks and medical help.
I don't think you can blame China for slowness. When you discover something, you don't just go out and tell everyone right of the bat. They have to analyze what is going on, and prepare if the nation is ready to react. You don't want to panic 1.4B people with every new news. US would do the same.
Trump has to say Sorry first.
Trump said it was a Hoax.Its Trumps fault.
We will be doing better if pinocchio can learn how to handle himself, info and the situation from cuomo
Yes, let's listen ro the boy who cries wolf
Yer sister, right?
Trump needs a ventilator, going to get a heart attack pretty soon,   NO RALLIES  for trump   oh what a shame
You see a rally from DJT every time he is on TV. What ever happened to Joe Biden ? DJT re-elected in a Landslide 2020 . Get used to it .
Then it falls when traders read or watch what he said and go back to trading.
Tuff being Solo...
Oh yeah let’s all pretend it is Ford’s fault now
Well, not a good time to make this kind of comments
Vu you ?
Be ashamed. You don't know him and based on what you write, I suppose you have a degree in mental telepathy? How else could you know this?
Pretty obvious to most that are not blind or starstruck with game show hosts.
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