Corporate Counsel Quotes Angela Styles on Tips for GCs in Light of DPA Executive Order

Akin Gump government contracts partner Angela Styles has been quoted in the Corporate Counsel article “What's Next for General Counsel as President Trump Issues Defense Production Act Executive Order?” The article discusses what in-house counsel need to know following a move by President Trump last week that gives the federal government authority to require manufacturers to allocate their output of surgical masks and antiviral respirators, ventilators and other medical equipment to combat the growing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Styles, the Secretary of Health and Human Services now has to make a plan with findings before the government can require companies to start allocating or producing these products. One potential snag, she said, is that it is not clear if the Defense Production Act (DPA) covers U.S. companies whose products are sourced from factories abroad or applies to distributors who do not make the items. U.S. manufacturers sent much of their production of masks and respirators offshore over the years, and it is not clear how the DPA can apply in that instance, she noted.

Styles suggested that manufacturers of medical supplies and equipment, or those who could produce such equipment if they had to, “need to think about what they can do. If they had to put everything else and shove it to the side, what could they do, and how much would they want for it?”

Styles also discussed the importance of asking whether the executive order is “a rated/priority order or an allocation order” and of being prepared to negotiate. In addition, she pointed out that companies that manufacture other products now but could make the in-demand supplies will be the last place the government approaches for help. If they are already a defense contractor, the government may ask, “can you repurpose and how long would it take” or “do you have any other idle facilities?”