The Trump administration has reached a deal with 3M, the US manufacturer, to import 166.5m N95 respirator masks into America from abroad, easing tensions between the White House and the Minnesota-based company.

The agreement was announced by Donald Trump, the US president, at his daily news briefing on the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic on Monday afternoon. Crucially it will allow 3M to continue selling its US-made N95 masks to Canada and Latin America, deals that had been threatened by a crackdown by the Trump administration on exports of protective medical equipment.

“So the 3M saga ends very happily,” Mr Trump said. Mike Roman, the chief executive of 3M, later confirmed details of the deal and said: “We share the same goals of providing much needed respirators to Americans across our country and combating criminals who seek to take advantage of the current crisis.”