New York [US], May 21 (ANI/Xinhua): With only four major manufacturers of formula in the United States today-Mead Johnson, Abbott, Nestle, and Perrigo, some 40 percent of the nation's baby formula has been out of stock recently, causing new mothers to hunt from store to store to feed their infants.

"One reason the market is so concentrated is tariffs up to 17.5 percent on imports, which protect domestic producers from foreign competition," said The Wall Street Journal last week, citing the Donald Trump administration's efforts to protect domestic formula producers by imposing quotas and tariffs on Canadian imports in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade deal.

Also Read | Monkeypox in Australia: What is It and How Can We Prevent the Spread?.

"America's baby-formula shortage illustrates how bigger government can make big business bigger, thereby limiting competition and choice," said the newspaper, noting that this is especially worth noting as Democrats push to expand entitlements and government control over the private economy.

It also illustrates that global trade has its uses, and there are costs to the faddish drive to produce everything in the United States, according to the report.

Also Read | Monkeypox Outbreak: WHO Confirms 80 Cases of Virus in 11 Countries.

"Members of both parties in Congress want to subsidize domestic production, but this can create its own supply-chain vulnerabilities," said the report, adding that "globalization nowadays may be a dirty word, but having diverse suppliers is an economic strength." (ANI/Xinhua)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)