U.S. Import Reliance Remains Unnecessarily High; China Tightens Grip on Minerals

What you need to know

• USGS releases Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 report, U.S. remains 100 percent import reliant for 15 minerals.
• China expands restrictions on minerals exports to the U.S. in response to tariffs.
• Seventy percent of Americans want the U.S. to ramp up domestic minerals production to reduce our reliance on China.
• Learn more about our priorities and ask to policymakers in 2025.

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO

February 18, 2025
Dear Friend,

As global tensions rise and retaliatory tariffs and export restrictions continue to be levied by adversaries like China, the United States finds itself at a crossroads on the topic of mineral import reliance. The newly-released USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 report highlights the need to shore up production of minerals. According to the recently released report, the United States was 100 percent import reliant for 15 minerals in 2024. The report also noted that China, along with Canada, was the leading source of mineral commodities in 2024. This report should be a wake-up call: our national security risk continues to grow every day we fail to take action.

Despite concerning insights in the USGS report, the American minerals industry has made impressive strides. Approvals for new, important projects like the Perpetua Resources’ antimony and gold project and Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron project will help strengthen our supply chains and bolster our national security. Still, there is more to be done. We simply cannot afford to wait and risk being left behind while the rest of the world moves ahead because of an excess of red tape.

According to a recent public opinion poll conducted by Maru Public Opinion for the NMA, 70 percent of Americans want the U.S. to ramp up domestic minerals production. While there were a number of key legislative wins for domestic mining in 2024, several proposals to improve domestic minerals production have yet to be made law. Bipartisan bills like the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act, The Critical Mineral Consistency Act and The Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 should be top of mind for our elected officials in 2025. These laws, if enacted, would improve coordination between federal agencies for crucial minerals decisions and address the long, costly and uncertain process for approving domestic minerals mines. They would also help us meet the continuously growing demand for essential minerals in this age of rapid technology advancement. Every day we fail to act on these common-sense policies, we become more reliant on our adversaries and less secure.

Thank you,

Rich Nolan
NMA President and CEO