A military cargo plane carrying more than 35 tons of baby formula landed in Indiana Sunday morning after flying from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the first flight under the President Joe Biden’s “Operation Fly Formula,” ABC News reports.
The project comes after the Biden Administration had to cut through the red tape enacted by the previous administration in its unsuccessful trade war with the world, during which Donald Trump brashly implemented stiff tariffs on vital products coming to the United States.
Trump’s trade wars brought on significant product shortages, specifically at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that led to everyone from hospitals to private citizens scrambling for things like disinfectant, paper products and food. It also led to increases in commodities prices for steel, aluminum and other industrial needs. Trump also gave US farmers tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to offset the loses he caused by shutting down foreign trade markets.
“Typically, the process to transport this product from Europe to U.S. would take two weeks. Thanks to Operation Fly Formula, we cut that down to approximately three days,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
The White House announced that there will be flights at least once daily to help alleviate the formula shortage in the US.