No Germany-bound shipment of masks was diverted to the US: embassy

[snoop1130]

No Germany-bound shipment of masks was diverted to the US: embassy

By The Nation

 

 

The US embassy in Bangkok is denying reports suggesting that a shipment of face masks designated for Germany was seized at the airport and diverted to the United States, while Thailand’s Customs Department has also said that there has been no such action from the United States. 

 

The comment from the embassy came after the Wall Street Journal reported that a shipment of face masks manufactured in China and heading for Germany had been seized at a Bangkok airport and diverted to the US.

 

“The United States Government did not take any action to divert any 3M supplies that were destined to Germany nor did we have any knowledge of such a shipment,” the US embassy said in response to The Nation’s enquiry. 

 

“Leaders around the world are grappling with unprecedented challenges as they tackle the Covid-19 global pandemic. The United States is significantly increasing production of materials domestically while working through appropriate channels to purchase excess supplies from other nations to meet our needs.

 

“At the same time, the United States is working in solidarity with our partners and allies to provide humanitarian assistance to countries in need and take all possible measures to combat the spread of coronavirus,” said the embassy.

 

The US government has been clear that action will be taken against price-gouging and pandemic profiteering, and we take seriously incidents that are reported, the embassy said, adding “we remain concerned about pervasive attempts to divide international efforts through unsourced, unattributed disinformation campaigns”. 

 

Meanwhile, Customs Department spokesman Chaiyuth Kamkhun said no shipments of the aforesaid items had been confiscated at a Bangkok airport. He also quoted a German customs official who works in Thailand as saying that he did not know of any such shipments being seized in Bangkok. 

 

There is a severe shortage of face masks, ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) across the world as government rush to place orders as the Covid-19 pandemic worsens.

 

The Washington Post has reported that the Trump government is scrabbling to scoop upmedical supplies, angering Canada and Germany. The Washington Post also reported that late on Thursday (April 2), the White House ordered face mask manufacturer, 3M, in Minnesota to prioritise US orders over foreign demand, using its authority under the Defence Production Act to try to ease critical shortage of N95 masks in US hospitals.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30385504

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-04-06

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Mango Bob]

My money is on either the Chinese or the Russians making up the story.

[Coremouse]

26 minutes ago, Mango Bob said:

My money is on either the Chinese or the Russians making up the story.

Not really

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52161995

quote: 'The US has been accused of redirecting 200,000 Germany-bound masks for its own use, in a move condemned as "modern piracy".

The local government in Berlin said the shipment of US-made masks was "confiscated" in Bangkok.

The FFP2 masks, which were ordered by Berlin's police force, did not reach their destination, it said.

Andreas Geisel, Berlin's interior minister, said the masks were presumably diverted to the US.

The US company that makes the masks, 3M, has been prohibited from exporting its medical products to other countries under a Korean-War-era law invoked by President Donald Trump.' end quote

 

Also: https://berlinspectator.com/2020/04/03/berlin-muller-slams-trump-for-confiscating-masks-bought-for-police/

The Berlin Senate and Governing Mayor Michael Müller are furious because the United States supposedly “confiscated” protective masks for the Berlin police. The manufacturer disputes this version. So do U.S. officials. Now the Foreign Ministry in Berlin intends to find out what happened.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Coremouse

[RichardColeman]

Hopefully when this is over, the government will issue huge loans to companies to encourage production growth of most products imported from China. best way punish china is start making their stuff in your own country

[webfact]

Accused of 'piracy', U.S. denies diverting masks bound for Germany

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat

 

FILE PHOTO: Various N95 respiration masks at a laboratory of 3M, that has been contracted by the U.S. government to produce extra marks in response to the country's novel coronavirus outbreak, in Maplewood, Minnesota, U.S. March 4, 2020. Picture taken March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi/File Photo

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The United States had no knowledge of a shipment of face masks bound for Germany that officials in Berlin have accused it of diverting from an airport in Bangkok, a spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Thailand said.

 

The comment came after Berlin Secretary of Interior Andreas Geisel said on Friday that an order of 200,000 masks bound for Germany had been "confiscated" in Bangkok and diverted to the United States, calling it an "act of modern piracy".

 

"The United States Government did not take any action to divert any 3M supplies that were destined to Germany nor did we have any knowledge of such a shipment," Jillian Bonnardeaux, the spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, told Reuters.

 

"We remain concerned about pervasive attempts to divide international efforts through unsourced, unattributed disinformation campaigns."

 

Thai authorities were not reachable on Monday as the country was observing a public holiday.

 

The accusation that masks were diverted came at a time when countries are scrambling to secure protective gear to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Allies of the United States from Europe to South America have complained about "Wild West" tactics they say Washington has employed to outbid or block shipments of medical supplies to original buyers.

 

Globally, there were more than 1.25 million cases of coronavirus and 68,400 deaths across 211 countries and territories, as of Monday morning, according to a Reuters tally.

 

Although Germany's Geisel said on Friday the consignment had been "confiscated" in Bangkok, his office rowed back a day later, saying it was still trying to clarify the circumstances of how the masks, which were ordered from a German wholesaler, and not from U.S. manufacturer 3M [MMM.N], had been diverted.

 

A spokeswoman for 3M had told Reuters the company had no evidence that its products had been seized.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that "there has been no act of piracy".

 

(Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-07

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[twocatsmac]

Anti-American fake news again,always supported by the BBC.

Edited April 6, 2020 by twocatsmac

[ChrisY1]

Talk to Thamanat!

[webfact]

related world news

 

Canadian province of Ontario angry over 'unacceptable' U.S. move to block face masks

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1158155-canadian-province-of-ontario-angry-over-unacceptable-us-move-to-block-face-masks/

 

[pacovl46]

3M is an American company, which has been told by the American company to prioritize American orders over any other nation in the world. Since masks are a major priority right now, I find it hard to believe that the American government didn’t know about the German order. 
 

It’s easy to say they didn’t reroute then masks, but then again, the American government has said a lot of things along the way that later turned out to be NOT the truth, so...

Edited April 7, 2020 by pacovl46

[yankee99]

BBC and Washington post that sums this satire up

[Sydebolle]

Why should anyone believe what the official US or China says? 

China kept their mess under the big red carpet for 57 days and the US claims not having "diverted" a shipment which never existed, yet got ordered by the Germans and the Chinese stay quiet. 3M has no clue - officially - what a hopeless kindergarten. 

We all know that the official US is pretending to be the nice guy but in reality is an evil outcast. Less than a month ago they offered (that's on record) an obscene amount of money for some medical formula by a Swiss laboratory and the Swiss refused in a public press statement. 

Be it as it is, over time the world will come to terms with yet another mess of those "super powers", with or without stolen, never existing, yet ordered and possibly delivered to Nowhereland ......... 

[metisdead]

Some troll posts have been removed. 

[Proboscis]

7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Hopefully when this is over, the government will issue huge loans to companies to encourage production growth of most products imported from China. best way punish china is start making their stuff in your own country

I am not sure that loans will do the trick. Higher prices could as the wages of Americans are higher than in China.

[beammeup]

13 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

My money is on either the Chinese or the Russians making up the story.

Well it is in black and white that the WSJ made up the story.

[Logosone]

The US embassy in Berlin and the US embassy in France have issued an almost word for word identical statements as the US embassy in Bangkok, denying that the US stole masks Germany paid for.

 

It is quite obvious that they were given directions to deny everything, if anyone believes these mendacious denials they are more naive than a new born baby.

 

What is the US government going to say, "Yes, we stole the masks Germany paid for because frankly we don't care about you because you're not Americans?". That would look a bit bad, wouldn't it?

 

The notion that this story is "made-up", after France and Brazil revealed similar incidents, in the case of Brazil 23 planes flying to China to steal their supplies, and after Trump tweeted how unhappy he was that 3M was selling masks to foreigners, and invoked old emergency powers to force 3M not to export masks to Canada and Latin America, is ludicrous.

 

Obviously this happened and the WSJ, Washington Post et al are just reporting what happened.

 

What this shows is that the US embassies are liars, you can't believe a word they say and Germany needs a non-East European Chancellor that does not kow-tow to America. Germany also needs to embark on developing its own nuclear weapons, as it has become clear that America is a perfidious and unreliable partner. We can not rely on Americans.

 

Except to steal vital supplies from us, that is.

 

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Logosone

[Iron Tongue]

3M sells only through distributors, not directly so they do not control planeloads of equipment going anywhere except to distribution warehouses.  

 

Distributors take the product and "distribute" to where they have buyers.  They definitely can turn one shipment from Germany towards the US for more money.  They definitely would divert shipments for money.

 

The US customer only knows they just bought a planeload of masks, not that they took masks away from the Germans.

 

That's what's been going on.

 

 

 

 

[ThomasThBKK]

Doesn't really matter what happened, it's natural that all governments fight over masks now after skrewing it up and not doing anything when it was time to do something.

 

I just hope western companies wake up after this and move their production back home, that's the only thing to learn here.

Edited April 7, 2020 by ThomasThBKK

[zhounan]

Okay, now who will pay for this official fake news? 

People around the world should open their eyes oo the behavior of Germany's Fourth Reich in european continent, the policies and their suicidal ideology are literally devastating many countries there. 

[Logosone]

1 hour ago, Iron Tongue said:

Distributors take the product and "distribute" to where they have buyers.  They definitely can turn one shipment from Germany towards the US for more money.  They definitely would divert shipments for money.

 

The US customer only knows they just bought a planeload of masks, not that they took masks away from the Germans.

 

That's what's been going on.

 

 

 

 

No, sellers do not "divert shipments" that are already paid for. Especially if the client is a giant potential repeat customer like the German government.

 

It is quite obvious that this seller got a call from a gentleman who said he worked for a US government agency and they needed the masks arriving in Bangkok. That's exactly what the seller said, that the US gave a directive those masks should go to the US.

 

The masks that landed in the US were already paid for by the German government.

 

As of now armed German military personnel are dispatched to oversee German government mask purchases and guard every delivery. This indicates the German government knows exactly what happened.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Logosone

[rasmus5150]

1 hour ago, zhounan said:

Okay, now who will pay for this official fake news? 

People around the world should open their eyes oo the behavior of Germany's Fourth Reich in european continent, the policies and their suicidal ideology are literally devastating many countries there. 

I think most Europeans point their finger elsewhere when it comes to your accusations.

Many Northern European countries are very happy to be working together with the Germans.

[G950]

This is a gold rush for anyone able to export/distribute medical equipment and that does bring in unscrupulous sociopath operators that would sell their first born for a buck.

 

There have been multiple reports of shipments being diverted on route to another higher bidder. Governments are probably not doing it directly but it would be a good bet that they are buying stuff  and not being overly concerned to where the shipment was originally intended to go.

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed. 

[than]

the united states has no allies but only interests

[ThailandRyan]

17 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

My money is on either the Chinese or the Russians making up the story.

I think it might have come from the server of Hilary Clinton, you know the one she would not turn over......

[AgMech Cowboy]

17 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

My money is on either the Chinese or the Russians making up the story.

My money is on the MSM.

[allenberg]

17 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

My money is on either the Chinese or the Russians making up the story.

More than likely both...

[Baerboxer]

18 hours ago, Coremouse said:

Not really

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52161995

quote: 'The US has been accused of redirecting 200,000 Germany-bound masks for its own use, in a move condemned as "modern piracy".

The local government in Berlin said the shipment of US-made masks was "confiscated" in Bangkok.

The FFP2 masks, which were ordered by Berlin's police force, did not reach their destination, it said.

Andreas Geisel, Berlin's interior minister, said the masks were presumably diverted to the US.

The US company that makes the masks, 3M, has been prohibited from exporting its medical products to other countries under a Korean-War-era law invoked by President Donald Trump.' end quote

 

Also: https://berlinspectator.com/2020/04/03/berlin-muller-slams-trump-for-confiscating-masks-bought-for-police/

The Berlin Senate and Governing Mayor Michael Müller are furious because the United States supposedly “confiscated” protective masks for the Berlin police. The manufacturer disputes this version. So do U.S. officials. Now the Foreign Ministry in Berlin intends to find out what happened.

 

Time for these German politicians to put up or shut up (after apologizing!).

 

Where is their evidence?

 

And those TV Posters who said "it must be true, bad old Trump/US" might consider doing the same!

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, rasmus5150 said:

I think most Europeans point their finger elsewhere when it comes to your accusations.

Many Northern European countries are very happy to be working together with the Germans.

 

Yes happy working with the Germans and their lying cheating auto manufacturers!

[Morty T]

20 hours ago, Coremouse said:

Accused & supposedly, more like, perhaps and maybe. Using the BBC, Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC as sources. You're probably in that group who believes this is all an alien conspiracy. 

 

[Acharn]

I didn't save the link, but saw a news item where the German official who made the initial charge apologized and said he was mistaken. A spokesman for 3M Co. said their Singapore plant, where the masks supposedly were coming from, had no record of an order for FFP2 and FFP3 masks from Germany. I think the only people who accepted the story must know nothing of Thai history and culture. The Thais, especially the elite, are extremely proud of the fact that they were never colonized by the European powers. When the U.S. had military bases here there were serious restrictions on what we were allowed to do. Security guards had to be Thai. The American Military Police who sometimes patrolled Bangkok had to be accompanied by Thai Military Police and could not carry weapons. To this day Thailand is the only country where U.S. foces have been stationed that the U.S. does not have a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with. If American "officials" had tried to seize cargo at either Cobra Swamp or Don Meuang I believe there would have been a bunch of soldiers there in a New York Minute to stop them, and there would surely have been an outcry in Parliament and editorials in the newspapers.