According to the Washington Post:
President Trump on Friday compelled General Motors to manufacture ventilators to help handle the surge of coronaviruspatients, using his power under the Defense Production Act.
Trump announced that he’d signed a presidential memorandum requiring the company to “accept, perform and prioritize” federal government contracts for production of the much-needed medical equipment shortly before signing into law a $2 trillion stimulus package to help prop up the economy during this public health crisis.
“Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course,” Trump said in a statement. “GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.”AD
At the White House’s daily news briefing on its coronavirus response, Trump named economist Peter Navarro, currently serving as a trade adviser to the president, to oversee enforcement of the Defense Production Act.
Navarro described the policy as “the most significant industrial mobilization since World War II.”
“We have a wartime president fighting an invisible enemy and we have the full force of government coupled with the full power of private enterprise bearing down on this problem,” he said.