White House trade adviser Peter Navarro claimed China “cornered” the personal protective equipment market amid the coronavirus pandemic and is now “profiteering.”
Navarro reacted Sunday to a Fox News report that the coronavirus began in a Wuhan, China, laboratory to show the country’s capabilities to combat viruses is on par with the United States, a theory American spy agencies are looking into.
“First of all, the virus was spawned in China. Second of all, they hid the virus behind the shield of the World Health Organization. The third thing they did was basically hoard personal protective equipment, and now, they’re profiteering from it,” Navarro said on Sunday Morning Futures.
He then accused the country of using a six-week period to conceal the virus and influence the WHO, for which Trump recently halted funding over concerns about its “China-centric” response to the pandemic.
“During that period of time, that six-week interval when they were hiding this virus from the world, China went from a net exporter of personal protective equipment, they are the largest producer of that in the world, to a large net importer,” Navarro said. “They basically went around and vacuumed up virtually all of the PPE around the world … and what that did was leave people in New York, Milan, and everywhere in-between defenseless when it came time to have that PPE.”
He added, “Now, what’s happening today, which is equally alarming, is China is sitting on that hoard of PPE where it cornered the market and is profiteering. I have cases that are coming across my desk where 50-cent masks made in China are being sold to hospitals here in America for as much as $8.”
A report earlier this month claimed China blocked U.S. manufacturers from exporting medical supplies as the coronavirus spread across the globe, including face masks and shields, gloves, and other personal protective equipment.
