OOPS
Berlin backtracks after accusing U.S. of ‘piracy’ when 200,000 masks went missing
BERLIN — A Berlin official, who accused the U.S. administration of “piracy” after 200,000 masks for the city police went missing, backtracked Saturday and said the masks were ordered from a German firm.
In a statement distributed by the city mayor’s office and senate a day earlier, Andreas Geisel, Berlin’s senator for the interior, was quoted as saying a delivery of FFP2 masks only made it as far as Bangkok before it was “confiscated.”
He had said the consignment was ordered from a U.S. firm and “we are currently assuming that this is related to the U.S. government’s ban on mask exports.” Berlin Mayor Michael Muller also weighed in Friday to call President Trump’s alleged actions “inhumane and unacceptable.”
But Geisel wrote on Twitter on Saturday that he had clarified that the order was placed with a German firm and that supply chain issues were being “reviewed.”
In a statement earlier Saturday, 3M had denied German news reports that it was the supplier in question.
By invoking the Defense Production Act last week, the Trump administration has compelled U.S. companies to prioritize orders from the United States. It comes as counties scramble for masks to protect their health-care workers and other essential workers from the coronavirus.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/04/04/coronavirus-latest-news/#link-GQ4VHJ7T2ZGQPD3VUWO5W6QZRU