White House details orders to GM to make ventilators

<p>President Donald Trump on Friday detailed orders to force General Motors Co. to make ventilators for coronavirus patients.</p><p>Speaking at the White House, Trump said that Under the Defense Production Act certain American companies must comply with orders to produce materials that are in short supply in the face of the growing outbreak.</p><p>"We will not hesitate to use the full authority of the federal government to combat this crisis. We thought that we had to deal with as an example General Motors and I guess they thought otherwise they didn't agree," Trump said.</p><p>White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who Trump tapped to coordinate actions under the DPA, said he's been working with FEMA, the Department of Health and Human Services and about 10 ventilator companies to increase production, adding that virtually every one of those companies had been "cooperative and patriotic."</p><p>"But we did have a problem with GM and Ventech on the one hand. We had Ford and GE moving forward on a similar kind of project patriotically moving as fast as possible. Over the last several days we ran into roadblocks with GM. We cannot afford to lose a single day, particularly over the next 30 to 60 days."</p><p>GM and Ventec said they're utilizing the automaker’s electronics assembly facility in Kokomo, Indiana to produce the ventilators. GM also said it was "working around the clock for over a week to meet this urgent need," according to a statement.</p>