White House business adviser Peter Navarro was due to travel to Kodak’s headquarters in Rochester, New York, on Tuesday to tour the 1,600-acre facility.
“It will be the rebirth of the great state of New York as an industrial power,” Navarro said during an appearance on Fox Business.
Kodak’s cinematic legacy means the company has expertise in fine chemicals, Navarro said. He added that the project will reduce the United States’ dependence on countries that restrict sales of pharmaceuticals and masks during the pandemic, as well as reduce markets in China, India and Ireland.
He predicted that 25% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients for manufacturing generic drugs in the US will be manufactured at that facility and at a Kodak facility in Minnesota.
The agreement itself, Navarro said, goes through the Development Finance Corporation using the Defense Production Law Title III. He added that the loan is “fully guaranteed by assets and performance contracts, making it a minimal risk to the taxpayer.”
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