Manufacturers and CEO groups to help administration collect data on medical supplies

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Business Roundtable (BRT) will team up to collect information on supply shortages in the medical community and report data to the federal government during the coronavirus pandemic.

The business lobbying groups created an online survey to ask their members for information on medical supplies and equipment, including personal protective equipment and test kits. The survey will help them locate existing supplies and where new supplies could be manufactured. 

“Our nation’s job creators have embraced President Trump’s ‘whole-of-America’ response to the coronavirus outbreak and have quickly mobilized to find innovative solutions for the challenges ahead of us,” Vice President Pence, who is overseeing the White House’s coronavirus response team, said in a press release.

“From coast to coast, America’s businesses have brought a truly extraordinary response to this moment, and they should be commended for answering the call and being part of the solution,” he added.

NAM CEO Jay Timmons and BRT CEO Joshua Bolten will be co-chairmen of this effort.

President Trump used the Defense Production Act (DPA) to order General Motors to ramp up production of ventilators on Friday, a move that another major business lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, had been pressing the administration not to do.

Timmons, on a call with reporters last week, said he was agnostic about using DPA.

“[W]e are producing as much as we possibly can and whether the DPA is in effect or not, you know manufacturers aren’t going to be compelled to do the right thing, because we already are,” he said.