Securing Domestic Supply Chains: The Bipartisan Issue of Our Time

What You Need to Know:

• Trump issued a second Executive Order on minerals, titled “Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain from Reliance on Critical Minerals from Foreign Adversaries.”
• The House Critical Minerals Caucus co-chairs headlined NMA’s virtual panel event with RealClearPolitics titled “Reinventing Our Domestic Minerals Supply Chain in a Post-Pandemic World.”
• Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross visited Rio Tinto’s Resolution Copper Mine for a roundtable to discuss the potential of the site’s untapped copper deposits.

Letter From The President and CEO:

Within the past few weeks, there’s been a lot of movement in Washington on the subject of domestic mining and our dependance on China for critical minerals. In addition to an executive order from the Trump administration, earlier this month NMA hosted a virtual roundtable with RealClearPolitics that highlighted the severity of America’s rising import reliance for the metals that we will need to remain independent and prosperous in the years to come. The event highlighted the rare bipartisan nature of the issues we face, with the first panel featuring Congressmen Reschenthaler (R-PA) and Swalwell (D-CA) – co-chairs of the House Critical Materials Caucus. These two public officials from opposite parties, joined a variety of experts to discuss a united effort to pave a path forward.

See the Full RealClearPolitics Discussion

America’s mining industry serves as the bedrock of the American economy, providing material inputs for the tools and tech used on a daily basis. While the threats to our economy and national defense are greater than ever before, I am optimistic that we have the support of the American people to produce meaningful legislation that will help secure American supply chains.

Americans are cognizant of these supply chain disruptions; having experienced six long months of pandemic-related shortages for essential goods. To prevent this from occurring again – but on an even-larger scale – policymakers must move to streamline the mine permitting process and invest in projects to support emerging technologies that are becoming increasingly minerals-intensive. Amid heightened tensions with geopolitical rivals like China, mining should be a priority. In fact, recent polling conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the NMA shows that nearly 75 percent of voters agreed that the dangers of heavy import-dependent supply chains are reason enough for policy changes to better support responsible domestic mining projects.

Together, we can overcome the challenges that have rocked our country for the past six months. It’s time we reclaim U.S. supply chains, which are currently controlled by China, and protect the nation’s economic and defense interests, commercial goods and services.

Learn more about the minerals that we will need for the industries of tomorrow.

Thank you,

Rich Nolan
NMA President and CEO