3M, an AMERICAN company, was caught exporting protective gear to foreign countries while their home country was experiencing a crisis. Should companies have some sense of loyalty to their home country, at the very least during times of emergency like we are experiencing? I would certainly argue that they should. Our good markets and taxes are what made them successful, so they should in turn have a duty to help us.
3M says that they don't want to jeophardize their trade relations with other countries under an export ban. They would much prefer that we countries get into bidding wars with one another. Canada is worried that their medical workers may be imperiled when an export ban is implemented.
This really shows the issues with globalism/free trade. We, for many medical devices and drugs, have China create them for us. They are a borderline-hostile regime. Our country's safety should not be dictated by foreign powers, nor others be based on ours, as Canada and Latin America will soon learn. Outsourcing critical industries is a mistake.
Perhaps people will begin to adopt protectionist and nationalist policies in the future, at the very least I hope we do! I certainly support pro-market policies during times when these devices aren't critical for our national security, but this conflict of interest cannot be tolerated during a pandemic.