The cargo of 31 tons of Nestlé milk powder is unloaded at Indianapolis Airport, USA, May 22, 2022. JON CHERRY/AFP
A plane that had left Germany with more than 31 tons of cans of baby milk powder destined for the American market, hit by a major shortage, landed on Sunday 22nd President Joe Biden previously announced on Twitter that a plane “ is loaded with more than 70,000 pounds [plus de 31 tonnes] Formula is about to land in Indiana.
I have an update on Operation Fly Formula. We have secured a second flight to transport Nestlé special children for… https://t.co/Q5skYx7vuu
“A plane left Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany last night full of powdered baby milk,” White House economic adviser Brian Deese told CNN. On board 132 pallets of Nestlé baby food.
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Mr. Biden explained Sunday night that a second shipment was on its way to the United States. “We have secured a second flight to transport Nestlé’s specialty infant formula to Pennsylvania,” the president tweeted. “The flight and transport will take place over the next few days and I will continue to update you,” he added.
“bring more competition”
Almost empty milk powder shelves at a supermarket in Washington, May 22, 2022. SAMUEL CORUM / AFP
Other shipments of powdered milk “will arrive early in the week” on other flights. The first shipment will cover about 15% of immediate needs, the president’s economic adviser, Brian Deese, told CNN.
The United States has been suffering from a baby milk shortage for several months, which was caused by supply and labor problems related to Covid-19 and then exacerbated by the February closure of a factory of manufacturer Abbott in Michigan following a product recall suspected of causing death caused by two babies.
“We had a manufacturer that didn’t play by the rules and made formulas that had a risk of babies getting sick,” lamented Brian Deese. But beyond that, asks Joe Biden’s chief economic adviser, “how did we end up with a market that’s 90% controlled by three companies?” “.
He insisted on the need to think about how to “bring more competition into the American economy” to “have more baby milk suppliers so that no one company has that kind of control over the production chains.” And we’ll have to work on that.”
Asked about the likelihood of the United States experiencing a recession in the coming months, Mr Deese contented himself with stressing that “there are always risks” but wanted to be reassuring on the strength of the US economy. “There is no doubt that the difficulties are great,” he admitted, noting in particular inflation, which slowed somewhat to 8.3% in April after hitting 5% on March 8, a record since forty years.
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