Welcoming a new administration and Congress; Lots of work to do in 2025

Congratulating the new leadership in Washington

As we begin 2025, many exciting changes are happening in the nation’s capital. On January 3, the 119^th Congress was sworn in. Our team is excited to continue working with returning members of Congress and congratulates all new members.

Along with the new Congress, Washington D.C. continues to prepare for the inauguration of President Trump and his administration. We are excited to welcome this new administration and congratulate them on their historic accomplishment. The NMA looks forward to working with the new administration and Congress to advance America’s minerals mining policy.

Establishing priorities in the new year

As the Trump-Vance administration and the 119th Congress prepare to take the reins, U.S. minerals mine permitting reform should be at the top of their agenda. If we learned anything from 2024, it’s that our adversaries are becoming more aggressive in exploiting our dependence on mineral imports. China’s 2024 restrictions on exports of antimony, gallium and germanium, along with more recent signals of additional trade restrictions underscore why domestic minerals production should be a top national security concern for all legislators. Many of these minerals are critical in both in military and commercial technologies, and can be mined at home, rather than abroad.

The first step in shoring up our mineral production is passing comprehensive permitting reform. The Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, which received wide bipartisan and bicameral support in the 118^th Congress, aims to help reduce the long, complicated, and costly process for developing mining projects, while ensuring environmental protections and community engagement. Currently, it takes the United States an average of 29 years to develop a new mine. By comparison, competitors like Russia and China are able to open mines in nearly half the amount of time. These high lag times certainly contribute to our heavy import-dependence.

Currently, the United States is 100 percent import-dependent for supplies of 15 key minerals. For an additional 49 minerals, imports make up more than half of our national supply.  In fact, according to a recently released report from The Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and The Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Republic of China currently supplies more than 50 percent of U.S. demand for 24 critical minerals, including more than 90 percent of demand for rare earth elements.

Additional legislation, such as the Critical Mineral Consistency Act and the Mining Schools Act, will be key to building our domestic infrastructure and human capital in the minerals mining industry. As our economy continues to grow and technologies continue to advance, so will our need for these minerals. Reinvigorating America’s mining workforce is a crucial step in moving away from our reliance on foreign adversaries.

Our ask to policymakers

2024 proved to be a great year for raising national awareness of the issues surrounding minerals mining and domestic production, but we cannot afford to lose this momentum in the new year. Threats to our supply chains are growing every day and every American industry has an interest in American mineral independence. The 119^th Congress and the incoming administration can capitalize on this moment of opportunity to quickly pass these America-focused policies to protect our economy and our future. Now is the time to set our country on the right path.