Time is Running Out For American PPE Production
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AMMA represents the 26 small business Mask Manufacturers that answered America's call for emergency PPE during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These companies are now at risk of going out of business.
Unmasking China's Anticompetitive Practices
China is selling masks for less than the price of the materials needed to make them.
The Emergency Care Research Institute (ERCI) found that 70% of Chinese KN95 masks tested failed to meet minimum standards, concluding that "U.S. hospitals bought hundreds of thousands of masks produced in China [that] aren't safe and effective against the spread of COVID-19.
There is $1.50 worth of polypropylene plastic material in every pound of meltblown, the nonwoven filter material required for masks.
As a result, U.S. state and local government and private healthcare systems have filled their warehouses with cheap, ineffective Chinese products that put our citizens are risk.
Time is running out for American PPE Productions
- 54% of production will stop in 60 days
- 84.6% of production will stop by 2022
- 2,647 jobs already lost
- 260 million masks now sit unused
Urgent Call to Action
Revoke Non-USA Made Approval - Immediately remove the FDA's EUA for non-U.S. based manufacturers, as we have demonstrated that there is ample U.S. production and supply.
Mandate Federal Spending - Immediately require the federal government, and anyone receiving federal dollars for PPE reimbursement, to buy Berry-Amendment Compliant masks.
Buy Domestic Stockpile - Federal government should buy the existing 260M masks currently sitting in U.S. manufacturers' warehouses.
Update Procurement Regulations - A law or regulatory action requiring hospitals and organizations that accept federal funds to purchase 40% of their PPE from domestic manufacturers by 2023. This will bring investment to every level of our industry and allow the market to do its job.
Sources
AMMA Letter to President Biden - https://www.ammaunited.org/post/the-majority-of-u-s-mask-manufacturing-will-go-offline-in-60-days-2-647-jobs-already-lost
Bradsher, Keith and Liz Alderman. The World Needs Masks. China Makes Them, but Has Been Hoarding Them. New York Times, 2020. NY times, - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/business/masks-china-coronavirus.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NPPTL Respirator Assessments to Support the COVID-19 Response. CDC, 2021. CDC - https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/respirators/testing/default.html
ECRI. "Up to 70% of Chinese KN95 Masks Tested by ECRI Don’t Meet Minimum Standards" ECRI.org, 2020 - https://www.ecri.org/press/up-to-70-of-chinese-kn95-masks-tested-by-ecri-dont-meet-minimum-standards Accessed 22 September 2020
Kates, Graham. N95 mask shortage comes down to this key material: "The supply chain has gotten nuts". CBS News, 2020. CBS News - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/n95-mask-shortage-melt-blown-filters/
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