Today I stumbled upon a letter signed by a number of US Senators from the Democratic Party to President Biden regarding utlizing to the fullest the authorities given to him under the Defense Production Act. You can read the letter here.

One thing that caught my eye in that letter was the following excerpt:

In addition, increasing the use of the DPA and other federal acquisition authorities to incentivize “Made in America” PPE and medical supplies will be a boon to patriotic American manufacturers that stepped up during the pandemic, and will make us significantly better prepared for future emergencies. President Trump has not used his DPA authority sufficiently enough to award adequate medical supply contracts for the nation’s needs. We must immediately do more to re-shore the most in-demand PPE, such as nitrile gloves, nearly all of which are manufactured in China. Ongoing negligence and chronic missteps have left us unprepared, and have created chaotic markets of severe price gouging and bidding wars that will make it more difficult for your incoming administration to ensure we have the supplies we need.

We all know about the tensions between the US and China, especially in the last few years. Thus, I truly hope that President Biden will get informed appropriately and promptly that the world's supplier of nitrile gloves is Malaysia, and not China. Malaysia controls approximately 80-85% of the entire world production of nitrile gloves.

On another note, President Biden has included in his Rescue Plan a US$30 billion (~RM120 billion) expenditure for protective gear, out of a total allocation of US$415 billion. You can read more about the plan here.

Important disclaimer: Any views expressed are for informational and discussion purposes only. None of this information is intended as, and must not be understood as, a source of advice. It is imperative that you always do your own research and that you make any decisions based on your personal situation and your own personal understanding.