DETROIT — General Motors plans to supply 30,000 ventilators to the national stockpile by the end of August as part of a nearly $490 million contract under the Defense Production Act.
The Wednesday announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services marks the first contract for ventilator production under the act, following President Donald Trump’s direction to HHS Secretary Alex Azar to invoke the act with regard to GM’s production of the critical medical equipment during the COVID-19 crisis.
GM will deliver 6,132 ventilators by June 1, the department said. The automaker is producing the ventilators at its 2.6 million-square-foot plant in Kokomo, Ind.
“GM and Ventec Life Systems are working with speed and urgency to arm front-line medical professionals with the critical care ventilators they need to treat seriously ill patients,” the automaker said in a statement Wednesday.
On March 31, GM sent a letter requesting tariff relief to the Office of the U.S. Trade…
