Trump is prepared to use emergency act if needed, says VP Pence

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is prepared to use the Defense Production Act but industry has been stepping forward, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Fox News on Tuesday.

He also said that the White House coronavirus task force has not discussed a nationwide lockdown, as has been done in other countries to counter the spread of the coronavirus.

Pence said during a Fox News town hall that Trump initiated the act that allows the president to mandate production, but added: “Every time we’ve asked American industry to step forward, they’ve said yes. No one has said ‘no.'”

(Reporting by Diane Bartz and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)