Minerals vital to American economy and national security

• Mineral production remains vitally important to the U.S. economy and national security.
• The U.S. remains firmly in China’s grasp when it comes to our mineral import dependence.
• The Trump administration took several steps to advance mining projects on U.S. soil throughout the month of May.

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO
June 17, 2025

Dear Friend,

Minerals remain as important as ever with technological advancements in America’s defense, advanced energy and automotive sectors. But despite increasing awareness of our import reliance and efforts to decrease our dependence on China, extraordinary vulnerabilities remain.

Consider a few minerals you may not be familiar with. The mineral cesium is used in guidance systems for strategic missiles. Gallium is used in new radar technologies that can track smaller, faster threats from nearly double the distance. Military aircraft and drones get their enhanced strength and heat resistance from scandium. Tantalum is used in missile and other critical system parts due to its high melting point, corrosion resistance and strength. What these minerals have in common is that the United States is 100 percent import reliant for each of them, and China is one of the leading suppliers.

Moving to more commonly known minerals, electric vehicles, comprising over 1-in-5 cars sold in 2024, use copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel for wiring and batteries, yet we’re import reliant for a good portion of each to meet U.S. manufacturing needs. As industries like this one expand, forecasts show an even greater need for minerals. It is vital for the United States to increase domestic minerals production and reduce our mineral import reliance.

The United States is heavily dependent on mineral imports, most concerningly from adversaries like China. This spring, China tightened its grip on the world’s mineral supply chains by imposing export restrictions on several rare earth elements, limiting America’s ability to scale up production of important defense technologies. With such a significant amount of minerals imported from overseas, America’s economy and national security are at risk. Recent actions by Congress and the Trump administration are helping to close the gap to reaching mineral independence.

Under the FAST-41 permitting program, the Department of Interior has begun streamlining the approval of key mineral mining permits. President Trump has released several Executive Orders focusing on minerals and rare earths, most recently with an EO aimed at reducing mineral import reliance. Simultaneously, Congress has proposed several minerals-related bills that focus on U.S. mineral vulnerabilities and increasing domestic mining operations. While encouraging, there is continued risk of supply chain disruption.

The U.S. must forge ahead to 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.