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Read more here ![\\"democrat_symbol\\"](\\"/design/images/democrat_symbol.png\\"/) Fact Check # Did the Trump Administration Send 18 Tons of PPE to China in Early 2020? ## Critics have questioned the wisdom of exporting to China medical supplies that would soon be vitally needed in the U.S. ### David Mikkelson ### Published March 31, 2020 ![\\"WUHAN,](\\" Image courtesy of Getty Images Claim: The U.S. facilitated the sending of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to China to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in early 2020. Rating: True About this rating Snopes is still **fighting** an “infodemic” of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. **Find out** what we\'ve learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. **Read** the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and “advice” you encounter. **Become a Founding Member** to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the **CDC** or **WHO** for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. Advertisement: During the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic in March 2020, social media users began sharing a tweet ostensibly posted by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that castigated U.S. President Donald Trump for supposedly having sent 18 tons of personal protective equipment (PPE) to China while ignoring warnings and calling COVID-19 concerns a \"hoax.\" Readers wanted to know both if Waters had actually tweeted those words, and whether the content of that tweet was true: ![\\"maxine](\\" the-Trump-Administration-Send-18-Tons-of-PPE-to-China-in-Early-2020-.png\\") Advertisement: The authorship of the tweet is easily verifiable, as it appears on the timeline of Waters\' Twitter account: It is also true that on Feb. 7, 2020, while critics contended that the Trump administration was doing relatively little to prepare for the coming pandemic in the U.S., the State Department announced it had facilitated \"the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials\" in order to help \"contain and combat the novel coronavirus\": Advertisement: > This week the State Department has facilitated the transportation of nearly > 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including > masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials. These donations > are a testament to the generosity of the American people. > > Today, the United States government is announcing it is prepared to spend up > to $100 million in existing funds to assist China and other impacted > countries, both directly and through multilateral organizations, to contain > and combat the novel coronavirus. This commitment – along with the hundreds > of millions generously donated by the American private sector – demonstrates > strong U.S. leadership in response to the outbreak. > > Advertisement: > > This assistance only adds to what the United States has done to strengthen > health security programs around the world. For the last 20 years, the United > States through USAID has invested over one billion dollars to strengthen the > capacity of more than 25 countries to prevent, detect, and respond to > existing and emerging infectious disease threats. Since 2015, under our > commitment to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), this support has > helped improve surveillance and laboratory systems, risk communication, > outbreak response, and address the rising threat of anti-microbial > resistance. > > The United States is and will remain the world’s most generous donor. We > encourage the rest of the world to match our commitment. Working together, > we can have a profound impact to contain this growing threat. This same topic was also the subject of a CNN editorial published on the same day as Waters\' tweet, which criticized Trump for allowing the transfer of PPE to China even after at least a dozen cases of COVID-19 had been discovered in the U.S.: > Concerns about a dwindling supply of PPE are not new. Back on February 7, > the World Health Organization sounded alarm bells about \"the limited stock > of PPE,\" noting demand was 100 times higher than normal for this equipment. > > Yet the same day as the WHO warning, the Trump administration announced that > it was transporting to China nearly 17.8 tons (more than 35,000 pounds) of > \"masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials.\" As > Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted in the press release announcing this > shipment, \"These donations are a testament to the generosity of the > American people.\" > > Americans indeed are a generous people. We want to help those in need. And > at the time these medical supplies were shipped, more than 28,000 people in > China were infected with nearly 600 deaths attributed to the virus. But how > could Trump allow tons of vital medical equipment Americans to be > transported to another country in February if, as he has claimed since > January, he fully understood the risk the United States was facing from the > virus. > > As a reminder, the first known case of coronavirus case on US soil was > confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on January > 21, 2020. > > The next day, Trump was asked about the virus while attending the World > Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos. CNBC anchor Joe Kernen asked the > President: \"The CDC has identified a case of coronavirus in Washington > state ... have you been briefed by the CDC?\" to which Trump responded, \"I > have.\" Kernen continued, \"Are there worries about a pandemic at this > point?\" Trump declared: \"No. Not at all. And — we\'re — we have it totally > under control. It\'s one person coming in from China, and we have it under > control. It\'s — going to be just fine.\" Advertisement: As we covered in a separate article, it is not true that Trump literally dismissed the coronavirus itself as \"a hoax.\" He did, however, liken the Democrats\' criticism of his administration\'s response to the new coronavirus outbreak to their efforts to impeach him, saying \"this is their new hoax\" — while seemingly downplaying the potential severity of the outbreak by comparing it to the common flu and claiming the press was \"in hysteria mode\": > Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that, right? > Coronavirus. They’re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, > ‘How’s President Trump doing?’ They go, ‘Oh, not good, not good.’ They have > no clue. They don’t have any clue. They can’t even count their votes in > Iowa, they can’t even count. No they can’t. They can’t count their votes. > > One of my people came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, they tried to beat > you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didn’t work out too well. They couldn’t > do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. > They tried anything, they tried it over and over, they’ve been doing it > since you got in. It’s all turning, they lost, it’s all turning. Think of > it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax. But you know, we did something > that’s been pretty amazing. We’re 15 people [cases of coronavirus infection] > in this massive country. And because of the fact that we went early, we went > early, we could have had a lot more than that. > > So a number that nobody heard of that I heard of recently and I was shocked > to hear it, 35,000 people on average die each year from the flu. Did anyone > know that? 35,000. That’s a lot of people. It could go to 100,000, it could > be 27,000, they say usually a minimum of 27, it goes up to 100,000 people a > year who die, and so far we have lost nobody to coronavirus in the United > States. Nobody. And it doesn’t mean we won’t, and we are totally prepared, > it doesn’t mean we won’t. But think of it. You hear 35 and 40,000 people, > and we’ve lost nobody, and you wonder, the press is in hysteria mode. Advertisement: Some defenders have argued that the Trump administration\'s cooperation in sending donated supplies to the part of the world with the largest number of coronavirus cases at the time (China) was the most effective way of combating the outbreak, while critics have maintained that those supplies should have been kept on hand for use during the inevitable spread of the coronavirus to America. Given that some of the supplies had been donated by the \"American private sector,\" it\'s unclear what would have happened to them had the U.S. State Department declined to facilitate their transportation to China, and whether that action ultimately saved or cost more lives in the U.S. is not possible to determine at this point. But for what it\'s worth, the Canadian government was likewise criticized for sending supplies to China for the same reasons: > Canada’s department of Global Affairs shipped 16 tonnes of personal > protective equipment to China [in February] to help Beijing fight the novel > coronavirus, an effort that it undertook even after the World Health > Organization had warned countries to prepare for possible cases. > > Critics are questioning the wisdom of exporting gear overseas just weeks > before it was sorely needed in Canada. The Canadian government, however, > says the shipment was an effort to collaborate with China in the fight > against COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. > > Amir Attaran, a professor at University of Ottawa’s school of epidemiology > and public health and its faculty of law, said he was surprised to learn > Global Affairs shipped personal protective equipment (PPE) to China. > > “It was absolutely certain in early February that we would need this > equipment,” he said. \"This decision went beyond altruism into high > negligence and incompetence because Canada did not, and does not, have > surplus equipment to spare.” > > Adam Austen, deputy director of communications for Mr. Champagne, said > Canada’s shipment to China was an effort to co-operate in the fight against > the virus. > > “Global pandemics require global co-operation. After all, pandemics know no > borders. Co-operation is vital to ensuring the health and safety of people > around the world. This includes protecting people here in Canada, as support > of this kind can help to slow the spread of the virus,” Mr. Austen said. Advertisement: #### Sources Wikipedia. \"Timeline of the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States.\" Accessed 31 March 2020. Branswell, Helen. \"Coronavirus Concerns Trigger Global Run on Supplies for Health Workers, Causing Shortages.\" Stat. 7 February 2020. Obeidallah, Dean. \"Trump Administration Sent Protective Medical Gear to China While He Minimized the Virus Threat to US.\" CNN. 30 March 2020. Miller, Tim. \"Warnings Ignored: A Timeline of Trump’s COVID-19 Response.\" The Bulwark. 25 March 2020. Palma, Bethania. \"Did President Trump Refer to the Coronavirus as a ‘Hoax’?\" Snopes.com 2 March 2020. Pompeo, Michael R. \"The United States Announces Assistance to Combat the Novel Coronavirus.\" U.S. Department of State. 7 February 2020. Chase, Steven. \"Ottawa Faces Criticism for Sending 16 Tonnes of Personal Protective Equipment to China in February.\" The Globe and Mail. 25 March 2020. ### By David Mikkelson David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994. ## Article Tags COVID-19 Recommendations Advertisement: ![\\"Snopes.com\\"](\\"/design/images/logo-main.png\\") Company About Us FAQs Contact Us Submit a Topic Navigate Home Search Archive Newsletters Random Sections Latest Top Fact Checks News Account Join Login Game FactBot Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter © 1995 - 2024 by Snopes Media Group Inc. This material may not be reproduced without permission. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com Terms of Use Privacy Policy DMCA Policy
The US facilitated the sending of nearly 178 tons of donated medical supplies to China to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in early 2020