AP Explains: How is the Defense Production Act relevant?

Like his predecessor, President Joe Biden has invoked a 1950 law to boost production of supplies needed to confront the coronavirus pandemic.

The Defense Production Act was signed by President Harry S. Truman during the Korean War. It gives the president broad authority to mobilize the resources and production of private companies to meet the needs of the national defense.

A look at the Defense Production Act:

WHAT IT DOES

The act gives the federal government broad authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the national defense.

Over the decades, the law’s powers have been understood to encompass not only times of war but also domestic emergency preparedness and recovery from terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

The act authorizes the president to require companies to prioritize government contracts and orders seen as necessary for the national defense, with the goal of ensuring that the private sector is producing enough goods needed to meet a war effort or other national emergency.

It also authorizes the president to use loans, direct purchases and other incentives to increase production of critical goods and essential materials.

Other provisions authorize the federal government to establish voluntary agreements with private industry and to block foreign mergers and acquisitions seen as harmful to national security.

HOW IT WAS USED BEFORE

When former President Donald Trump invoked the authority of the Defense Production Act in 2020, the primary focus was on masks for health care workers, ventilators, gloves and eye protectors.

The government acknowledged a significant gap between the number of masks it needed for health care workers and the number of masks it had actually stockpiled.

Two decades ago, the administrations of both President Bill...