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Biden to meet with baby formula makers after invoking the Defense Production Act

Infant formula
Posted at 5:36 AM, Jun 01, 2022
and last updated 2022-06-01 08:50:05-04

President Joe Biden is set to meet with infant formula manufacturers as his administration works to ease nationwide shortages.

The administration's strategy calls for importing foreign supplies and using the Defense Production Act to speed domestic production. The White House said Biden will host a roundtable Wednesday with manufacturers including ByHeart, Bubs Australia, Reckitt, Perrigo Co. and Gerber. Not on the list is Abbott Nutrition, whose Michigan plant was shut down in February over safety concerns, sparking the U.S. baby formula shortage.

U.S. regulators and Abbott announced an agreement last month that would help pave the way for reopening the plant, though production has not restarted.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration invoked the Defense Production Act for a third time to help ease the shortage.

The Biden administration said it's cutting red tape to allow "manufacturers to increase the speed and scale of their infant formula production."

The administration also has been importing a limited supply of formula from overseas.