It’s a war of trade, round 2.
And this time, the ‘war’ may actually result in real American casualties. And this time, it is the medical supplies that US rely almost 40% of their production in China that’s becoming the hot potato of the issue between the superpowers.
PerkinElmer Inc, a medical corporation based in Waltham, Massachusetts, produced 1.
4 million test kits for COVID-19 that would galvainize efforts back in the states. The kits are currently supplemented in the city of Suzhou, but is concurrently banned from export after Beijing imposed strict restrictions, delaying the overall procedure.
According to their webpage, the kits are proposed and advertized as being a ‘real-time’ test kit. The company told the Journal that it is working with authorities in Beijing to clear the test kits for export.
3M is also banned from exporting their N-95 respirator masks, another badly needed materials.
General Electric, although seemingly not related to medical issues, is said to have conducted several negotiations before getting their subsidiary parts for ventilators to be allowed to go outside the country.
Owens & Minor Inc, a Virginian company who produced 2.4 million masks have all their stocks stored in Shanghai, with frustration within the corporation rising. They have to be certified by Beijing also. Emory Healthcare with their 100,000 N-95 face masks and 40,000 isolation gowns, Cellex Inc, based in North Carolina, yet not receiving their heavily anticipated coronavirus antibody test tools and supplies.
A Communist Party official has been quoted as having said that the company ‘relies on 3M’s locally produced N-95 respirators for its COVID-19 prevention efforts and lacks viable alternatives.’ The Vice Mayor of Shanghai ‘signaled that lifting restrictions on distribution of the company’s masks would require instructions from Beijing,’ according to 3M’s independently released memo.
A spokesperson for 3M said “that it received shipments from China and is working to coordinate more.”
China has been criticized heavily by European nations last month who has received their so-called aides, only to find the supplies very weak and gullible. It has been since that Beijing has implemented the banning policy which ‘disrupted established supply chains for medical products just as these products were most needed for the global response to Covid-19.’ according to the State Department.
China’s embassy in Washington, DC, said: ‘Countries across the world are all hunting for medical supplies, causing a big challenge for China’s efforts of quality control and regulation of export.’
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