On Apr. 3, 2020, 3M announced that the Administration formally invoked the Defense Production Act to require 3M to prioritize orders from the FEMA for N95 respirators. The Administration also requested that 3M cease exporting respirators that 3M manufactures in the U.S. to the Canadian and Latin American markets.

To cease all export of respirators produced in the United States would likely cause other countries to retaliate and do the same, as some have already done. If that were to occur, the net number of respirators being made available to the U.S. would actually decrease.