FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov)

Rep. Crawford Requests Information on Chinese PPE Dumping 

7/14/2021

Washington — Today, Representative Rick Crawford (AR-01), joined by 18 of his House colleagues, sent letters to the U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra requesting information on China’s dumping of personal protective equipment (PPE) into the United States and their plans to curb these imports. The COVID-19 pandemic put into sharp focus the United States’ alarming dependence on China for critical medical supplies, such as PPE. China purposely withheld much-needed PPE from the U.S., giving U.S. companies the opportunity to ramp up production in the wake of the pandemic. Now evidence strongly indicates that China has accelerated its PPE dumping, selling products well below the cost of U.S.-made PPE.  Inaction is decimating the U.S. PPE industry, as companies lay off a significant portion of their workforce and more than 260 million American-made masks to sit in warehouses. 

Most recently, the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking companies to produce a total of 127 million disposable surgical masks over the next calendar year in the U.S. These masks will be cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to ensure safety requirements are met.

“China continues its attempts to capitalize on supply chain vulnerabilities by dumping its cheap products into our market. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the danger of relying on other nations for critical supplies. The Biden Administration must take swift action to bolster our own PPE industry and hold China accountable for their constant aggressive behavior toward our economy.” said Rep. Crawford.

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