One of the toughest competitors domestic producers have faced has been the government, John Bielamowicz, a co-founder of the Texas-based United States Mask, told the Washington Examiner.

“We did not expect that to compete with free,” Bielamowicz said, referencing the White House's January decision to distribute millions of high-quality masks at no cost. “I saw one yesterday, just a basket of free N95s, provided by Health and Human Services. And so our question is, 'Where is our cut?' … We're essentially on the cusp of being run out of business by our own government.”

The government has purchased millions of masks throughout the course of the pandemic and distributed many of them to the public for free. But many well-connected and legacy mask manufacturers such as 3M and Honeywell have gobbled up most of those contracts, leaving the little guys behind, Bielamowicz, who co-founded United States Mask alongside David Baillargeon in 2020, said....