The next time you see a doctor, a phlebotomist draws blood from your arm, a nurse takes your temperature, or you undergo any medical procedure, healthcare workers will be wearing them, thanks to the failures of President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration. The gloves are made in China.
Since Biden took office in the White House in early 2021, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has rapidly seized market share for imports of nitrile medical gloves from the United States, according to data from the United States International Trade Commission (USITC). ing. In 2019, under the administration of former President Donald Trump and before the coronavirus pandemic, the United States relied on China for about 14.2% of these medical gloves, according to USITC import data. Domestic manufacturing accounted for zero percent, while countries much friendlier to the United States than China, such as Malaysia and Thailand, accounted for 85.7 percent of imports.
However, once Biden took office, this situation changed dramatically, and not for the better. In 2021, Biden’s first year in the White House, China increased its share of medical glove imports to the United States to 26.8%, while that of other countries fell to 73.1%. Two years later, in 2023, China increased its share of medical glove imports to the United States to 44.15%, while other countries’ share decreased to only 53.6%. In 2023, the United States produced about 2.22% of the medical gloves used domestically, thanks to a program launched during the pandemic under the Trump administration but stalled under the Biden administration.
If nothing changes at this pace, the United States will rely on China for about 60% of its domestic medical gloves by 2024.
Bluestar, a company that was supposed to manufacture the gloves domestically but whose efforts were hampered by the Biden administration’s failures, produced a graph showing this shocking government data. These graphs have been shared with Congressional Investigators and Breitbart News.
Provided by Blue Star, based on USITC data.
According to some estimates, approximately 120 billion nitrile gloves are used annually in the United States. Some estimate that number could be as high as 150 billion gloves. Most of them are used in medical settings, but they are also needed in food processing and semiconductor manufacturing.
Other graphs of USITC data show that, particularly when it comes to medical-grade nitrile gloves, China is the single largest importer of such gloves to the United States as of late 2023, surpassing Malaysia for the first time. There is. When it comes to non-medical nitrile gloves, Malaysia and Thailand remain the No. 1 and No. 2 countries, but China has increased its share as well during President Biden’s term.
Provided by Blue Star, based on USITC data.
Provided by Blue Star, based on USITC data.
As Breitbart News previously reported, also washington post, politikoand national public radio (NPR) — The Biden administration has canceled a project started under the Trump administration to start building a factory in the United States to make these gloves domestically.
From a previous Breitbart News article written by Christina Wong about this:
The Obama administration famously depleted the National Strategic Stockpile during the 2009 swine flu crisis and never replenished it, leading to President Trump’s decision to procure PPE domestically during the coronavirus outbreak.・We were forced to launch a manufacturing initiative.
According to the article, the Virginia plant is part of that effort. The federal government will spend $123 million on the project, which will be carried out by Bluestar NBR. However, the plan has been put on hold due to a lack of action or engagement by the Biden administration.
According to the paper, construction of the factory began in late 2020 and was completed in late spring. The plant was the only one in the country capable of producing the synthetic rubber needed to make disposable medical gloves, known as nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR). However, the factory was closed in the fall.
A 2023 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) document from the Biden administration details efforts launched under the Trump administration in response to the coronavirus pandemic and how the Trump administration will increase domestic production. Contains a triangular graph indicating whether an attempt was made to zoom in. The annual production of medical gloves reaches more than 40 billion units. The ambitious effort, which represents nearly one-third of annual U.S. usage, began with specific grants in 2020, but has since been completed by HHS and the Department of Defense under President Biden. The project failed due to lack of coordination. All gloves currently manufactured in the United States, which account for just over 2 percent of the medical gloves in use, are supported entirely by the private sector, but no federal plan to advance this, at least for now. The situation has stalled. This graph in particular was created by his HHS.
Department of Health and Welfare
It can be seen in this 2023 HHS document. The document reveals efforts under the Trump administration to begin producing these materials, which he began in October 2020.
Ministry of Health document by Breitbart News On Scribd
Blue Star CEO Scott Meyer and other candidates for domestic glove manufacturers will brief members of Congress and staff on the Biden administration’s failures, meet with lawmakers and congressional investigators and discuss the nation’s vulnerabilities. is informing you. Meyer told Breitbart News that these vulnerabilities will become serious if the issue is not addressed soon.
“We recognized the supply chain issues before the pandemic that sourcing 99% of critical medical items from overseas was not a viable model,” Meyer said. “Now that we can cost-competitively manufacture these products here in the U.S., having this 25% safety valve is just a good safeguard. It’s just stupid to leave something so vulnerable that it could malfunction. I liken it to this: Whenever you build a hospital, it’s always a good idea to install backup generators. It’s required by law, because it’s critical infrastructure that should never go down. This medical supply chain is just as important. If doctors and nurses don’t have the equipment to do their jobs, they have to They can’t touch you if you don’t have gloves on. The fact that all these gloves are imported from overseas, and almost half of them are from China, makes us wonder why It makes me question again why we are put in this position.”
Technically, at this point, Meyer estimates that there are only about 12 days’ worth of medical gloves available in the National Strategic Stockpile, all of which will expire in 2024. This means that if the Chinese Communist Party so desires, the Chinese government could significantly impede the United States’ strategic stockpiling capabilities. Immediately cutting off the flow of gloves exported by China to the United States could be enough to respond to a new pandemic or other medical emergency.
That makes Biden’s exemption from his “Made in America” office particularly interesting. Biden administration takes office in early 2024 announced Exempts the U.S. government from purchasing more than 55 million boxes of nitrile medical gloves from overseas. The sourcing exemption explicitly indicates that the United States cannot meet the demand to manufacture these domestically. The document actually acknowledges that the Biden administration has failed in this regard. “Currently, domestic sources of NBR are limited and due to the amount of gloves required by the government, domestic sources may not be able to meet NBR standards. [Nitrile Butadiene Rubber] “Request for this procurement,” it reads in part.
It is currently unclear which country these gloves will be purchased from, but it is possible that they will eventually be purchased from China. But Meyer told Breitbart News that when he and others have briefed Congressional officials on these shortcomings, “everybody’s reaction has been astounding.”
“Everyone thought HHS had taken care of this,” Meyer said. “And they don’t understand when they see that the effort has started and nothing has come of it.”
What Congress will do about this remains to be seen. But hope is quickly fading as America’s vulnerabilities remain exposed. Meanwhile, President Trump just recently criticized Biden for his failures as president on this front in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News in late 2023, saying he would take on these projects if reelected. And — not just this project, but many others that Biden has failed, are back on track.
