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July 20 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a $500 million investment into the production of glass pharmaceutical packaging as part of his "Made in America" week. The president met with representatives of Merck, Pfizer and Corning in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to announce the plan.
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"This initiative will bring a key industry to our shores that for too long has been dominated by foreign countries," Trump said at the event. "We're moving more and more companies back into the United States, and they're doing more and more of these products."
Corning, the New York-based glass manufacturer, said their contribution Thursday is part of a larger plan.
"Corning is making an initial investment of $500 million and creating 1,000 new U.S. jobs as the first part of a planned investment of $4 billion and 4,000 new high-tech jobs," the company said in a news release.
The glass vials and cartridges are used to store and deliver injectable drugs.
The Trump administration plans to spread the funds across facilities in New York, New Jersey and a new manufacturing plant in a yet-to-be-disclosed location in the Southeast.
Corning CEO Wendell Weeks showed off the durability of the company's new Valor Glass -- asking Trump to push on a vise-type contraption to break one of the vials, but he was unable to.
"The important thing is, that Valor Glass vial is still intact and protecting the vial ingredients inside," Weeks said.
Also in attendance at the event were Merck CEO Ken Frazier and Pfizer CEO Ian Reed.
