Washington (dpa) - Utilizing a law originally developed for wartime, US President Donald Trump ordered car maker General Motors (GM) to produce ventilators.
The company had to "accept, implement and prioritize ventilator manufacturing contracts," the White House said on Friday. In view of the corona epidemic, the responsible ministry will determine the number of devices to be produced. Ventilators are used in large numbers in hospitals to treat patients suffering from Covid-19 lung disease.
Trump had attacked GM on Twitter just hours earlier. The company did not keep its promise to deliver 40,000 ventilators "very quickly", he claimed. Trump has threatened GM to implement the wartime law, which will allow it to intervene more in the private sector. Trump signed the law in the middle of the month, but has not yet applied it.
The manufacture of the required ventilators is considered very complex for companies outside the industry. Companies like GM claim that they are working flat out to find solutions to help the country in the coronavirus crisis. GM announced on Friday that it would soon build ventilators for Ventec Life Systems, which should be delivered next month. GM is also starting to manufacture surgical respirators.
Trump is criticized for his crisis management and relativizing comments on the corona pandemic. The previous evening, he had raised doubts about a lack of supply complained about by US states on Fox News. "I don't think you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators," he said on a talk show.
Trump tweet