US has asked 3M to stop exporting US-made N95 respirator masks to Canada and Latin America

The request had “significant humanitarian implications”, it warned, and could prompt other countries to act in kind.

On Thursday, the US invoked the Korean War-era Defence Production Act to demand that 3M provide more masks.

Canada’s prime minister said stopping 3M’s exports would be a “mistake”.

President Donald Trump said he had used the Defence Production Act to “hit 3M hard”, without providing additional details. The law dates back to 1950 and allows a president to force companies to make products for national defence.

In a statement on Friday, 3M said the government had invoked the act “to require 3M to prioritise orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) for our N95 respirators”, and had also requested that 3M import more respirators made in its overseas factories into the US. It said it supported both moves.

However, 3M added that the government also requested that it stop exporting respirators made in the US to Canada and Latin America.

“There are significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator supplies to healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America, where we are a critical supplier of respirators,” it said.

3M added that such a move “would likely cause other countries to retaliate and do the same”, which would lead to the overall number of respirators being made available to the US decreasing.