By Linda Chiem

Law360 (March 27, 2020, 5:19 PM EDT) -- President Donald Trump on Friday officially invoked the Defense Production Act to force General Motors to manufacture thousands of ventilators in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hours after the automaker had said it would forge ahead with plans to retool an Indiana plant to make the breathing machines anyway.

The White House said the president signed a memorandum directing the secretary of health and human services to use "any and all authority available under the Defense Production Act to require General Motors to accept, perform, and prioritize federal contracts for ventilators." 

"Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course," Trump said Friday. "GM was wasting time. Today's action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives."

GM and medical device maker Ventec Life Systems announced an agreement a week ago to make thousands of ventilators — breathing machines for patients with respiratory problems — as overrun hospitals scramble to combat the spread of COVID-19. In response to Trump's order invoking the DPA, the companies maintained Friday that they have been working tirelessly to help meet the demand for ventilators.

"Ventec, GM and our supply base have been working around the clock for over a week to meet this urgent need," they said in a joint statement. "Our commitment to build Ventec's high-quality critical care ventilator, VOCSN, has never wavered."

Earlier Friday, Trump blasted GM on Twitter purportedly for moving too slowly on production, prompting the Detroit auto giant to announce that it had already been working on retooling its Kokomo, Indiana, facility to churn out thousands of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared critical care ventilators, while Ventec intended to ramp up production at its facility in Bothell, Washington.

"GM is in the position to help build more ventilators because of the remarkable performance of GM and Ventec's global supply base," GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement Friday. "Our joint teams have moved mountains to find real solutions to save lives and fight the pandemic."

GM and Ventec said they were poised to deliver the first batch of ventilators in April and ramp up to a manufacturing capacity of more than 10,000 critical care ventilators per month, depending on the needs of the federal government.

Friday's affirmations come after The New York Times reported Thursday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was reassessing its purported deal with GM and Ventec to make up to 80,000 ventilators because the $1 billion price tag was prohibitive.

While saying they would forge ahead Friday even without a federal contract in hand, neither GM nor Ventec directly mentioned the president's Twitter rant hours after he had ripped GM for failing to deliver on a purported promise to make 40,000 ventilators.

GM said Friday it was donating its resources at cost. About 1,000 workers will start production of the critical care ventilators immediately, and the company is working with the United Auto Workers labor union to bring employees from GM's Kokomo and Marion facilities in Indiana back to the production lines.

"This partnership has rallied the GM enterprise and our global supply base to support Ventec, and the teams are working together with incredible passion and commitment," Barra said.

Ventec CEO Chris Kiple said in a statement Friday that "this pandemic is unprecedented and so is the response, with incredible support from GM and their suppliers. Healthcare professionals on the front lines deserve the best tools to treat patients and precision critical care ventilators like VOCSN are what is necessary to save lives."

Additionally, GM said it would also start making FDA-cleared surgical masks at its Warren, Michigan, manufacturing facility next week and eventually ramp up to 50,000 masks per day, with the potential to increase to 100,000 masks per day in the coming weeks.

--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.

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