The French textile companies have sought government assistance to sell 20 million surplus masks that lie with them currently. They have asked the the government for assistance in promoting and finding buyers for the unsold output of the industry's national effort.
Hundreds of textile and clothing manufacturers answered the government's call for millions of masks superior to homemade versions. President Emmanuel Macron last month sported a military-tested model embroidered with the tri-color national flag to advertise the "Made in France" masks.
Yet within weeks, demand dried up for the domestically produced masks that sold for a few dollars at supermarkets and pharmacies or were available in bulk for free distribution by businesses and local governments. Manufacturers and the government acknowledged that many suppliers and consumers still opted for cheaper disposable masks from Asia.
To deal with this situation, Thomas Delise, owner of Chanteclair, the knitwear manufacturer behind the mask Macron called for trade barriers to large imports, and coordination within Europe to buy Europe-made masks.
