Washington — A trade association is urging the federal government to do more to tap U.S. manufacturing, including plastics firms, to meet demand for medical supplies and other good needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America called April 10 for Washington to step up domestic sourcing and gave the government a list of 600 companies it said have capacity to make personal protective equipment and medical devices.
"It's very wrong for OEMs and federal agencies to rely on offshore supply chains without making Herculean efforts to tap domestic manufacturers," CEO Michael Stumo said. "The 600 companies we identified are the tip of the iceberg. Federal agencies like FEMA — and large companies producing for the government like Philips Healthcare or General Motors — must prioritize including America's workers in these efforts."
The list includes about 20 plastics firms including Plasticert Inc. in Lewiston, Minn., Pioneer Plastics in Dixon, Ky., Ameritech Die and Mold in Ormand Beach, Fla., and Riverside Plastics in Bonaparte, Iowa.
CPA, which said it is a bipartisan organization that advocates for trade and other policy changes to help domestic U.S. manufacturing, agriculture and labor, argues that much more of the medical device supply chain should be in the United States.
A study the group released in March, for example, said that switching half of the $53 billion in imported medical supplies last year to U.S. production would generate 300,000 jobs and add $54 billion to the U.S. economy.
The same analysis also said that shifting half of the $128 billion a year the U.S. imports in pharmaceuticals to domestic manufacturing would add 800,000 jobs and $200 billion a year to the U.S. economy.
CPA said in its April 10 statement that it is concerned that multinational medical device companies "are continuing to rely excessively on global supply chains."
"This simply sends federal funds out of the country, supporting foreign suppliers even as an unprecedented 17 million Americans filed for unemployment in the last three weeks," the group said.
"We look forward to connecting President [Donald] Trump and his COVID task force with companies that have expertise in making active pharmaceutical ingredients, printed circuit boards, precision metal and plastic parts, optics, textiles and other equipment." said Dan MiMicco, chairman of the CPA and chairman emeritus of steelmaker Nucor Corp.
In an April 9 letter to President Trump, the group urged the federal government to take more formal steps.
"Such an effort would provide economic relief for companies currently struggling due to the COVID-19 crisis and would assist our government with identifying reliable American manufacturers," the group wrote. "We should not be overcompensating multinational companies who enabled current shortages by way of cheap labor in countries like China."