Minerals: Essential to U.S. Security, Innovation and Economic Power

Minerals: Essential to U.S. Security, Innovation and Economic Power

Minerals have always been indispensable to innovation in the United States, powering milestones from the electrification of cities and the rise of the automotive industry to advancements in aerospace and telecommunications. Today, the growth of transformative technologies—such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and data centers—is at risk.  

Despite robust domestic resources, many of the minerals essential to America’s most innovative industries are sourced primarily from overseas – posing significant economic and national security risks for the United States. 

• Artificial Intelligence and Semiconductors: Semiconductors are essential for everything from electronics and automotives, to medical devices and military technologies, and cannot be made without minerals like gallium, germanium, palladium and silicon. But looking at those minerals, the U.S. is 100 percent, 50 percent, 36 percent and 50 percent reliant on imports for each respectively.   

• Electric Vehicles: The electric vehicle market has rapidly grown over the past five years, making up over 21% of U.S. auto sales in 2024, alongside hybrid cars. These vehicles use a myriad of minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite for wiring, batteries and storage infrastructure. For those minerals, we are 50 percent, 76 percent, 48 percent and 100 percent dependent on imports, leaving our EV supply chains operating at the mercy of foreign suppliers.  

The persistent and unnecessary U.S. import reliance for many of these minerals, includes a deep reliance on foreign adversaries like China, which is the largest global processor of copper, lithium and cobalt, and controls 90 percent of the world’s rare earths processing. This foreign domination of our minerals supply chains presents a significant strategic and economic risk to the United States and our ability to continue developing and commercializing groundbreaking technologies. Supply chain disruptions are a looming threat and recent actions by China to restrict rare earth exports pose risks to America’s AI, semiconductor, and defense capabilities.  

Against these challenges, several recent actions by the Trump administration and Congress are moving us closer to American mineral independence. The Trump administration has rolled out a series of mineral-focused initiatives, including an April Executive Order focused on America’s mineral import reliance and national security vulnerabilities, improved permitting timelines, and efforts to reverse unnecessary withdrawals or project reversals. In Congress, several minerals-related bills have been introduced that focus on America’s mineral vulnerabilities and expanding domestic mining operations.  

The U.S. must reduce our import reliance by cementing these positive changes and fully commit to building a resilient, domestic minerals supply chain — one capable of powering the technologies of tomorrow.