The COVID-19 pandemic exposed risks of offshoring the manufacturing of personal protective equipment (PPE). In an effort to return production of PPE back to North America, the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has launched a new initiative called MakeAmericanPPE.
NCTO’s efforts have been bolstered by President Biden’s signing of an executive order strengthening the federal government’s Buy American provisions. Among other things, the order directs federal agencies to close loopholes involving measurement of domestic content and increase the percentage of domestic content in American-made products.