US senators introduce bill confronting China’s dominance in critical minerals

Legislation would require consideration of duties on Chinese critical minerals, create a fund to support investments in the sector, and support American projects abroad

US-China relations

Bochen Han

Published: 6:03am, 12 Jul 2024

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A bipartisan group of US senators introduced sweeping legislation on Thursday strengthening diplomatic and financial tools to counter China’s dominance over critical minerals.

The Global Strategy for Securing Critical Minerals Act of 2024 would require an assessment of imposing duties on critical minerals from China, create a fund to support investments in critical minerals, and develop workplace programmes to train Americans on managing the life cycle of the minerals.

The 44-page bill would also create a diplomatic mechanism to support overseas American private-sector projects related to critical minerals; enhance public-private information sharing on “manipulative adversary practices”; and expand collaboration with Nato countries and non-Nato allies and partners.

“Currently, China dominates the critical mineral industry and is actively working to ensure that the US does not catch up,” said Senator Mark Warner, the Virginia Democrat who is the bill’s lead sponsor.

“The US must, alongside allies, take meaningful steps to protect and expand our production and procurement of these critical minerals,” he continued, adding that his legislation would serve as a “road map” to doing so.

Other sponsors of the bill include Democrats Chris Coons of Delaware, Mark Kelly of Arizona and John Hickenlooper of Colorado; Republicans Marco Rubio of Florida, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Thom Tillis of North Carolina; and Angus King, independent of Maine.

Thursday’s bill represents the latest in Washington’s efforts to deal with the fact that China produces and processes the bulk of the world’s rare earths and critical minerals.

Critical minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt are essential inputs for military supply chains and clean energy technologies. Rare earths are a type of critical mineral that are especially hard to extract.

Concerned that Beijing might withhold the materials to undermine US national and economic security, President Joe Biden’s administration has incentivised alternative suppliers to replace Chinese refiners through tax credits, trade deals and government loans.

Last year, the US and European Union began negotiating a critical minerals agreement that would help European mineral processors take advantage of US subsidies and also help the US cultivate the EU’s critical minerals industry as an alternative to China’s.

Legislative efforts to counter China’s dominance of critical minerals have also been steady.

Earlier this year, another bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill to address “information gaps” in Washington’s understanding of critical minerals and establish a process for US companies to divest from mining or processing operations for critical minerals in a foreign country.

“China dominates the critical mineral industry and is actively working to ensure that the US does not catch up,” US Senator Mark Warner, the Virginia Democrat who is the bill’s lead sponsor, said. Photo: AP

Last month the House select committee on China started a working group on critical minerals, which held its second business meeting Wednesday.

Separately on Thursday, Rubio introduced a bill that would impose mandatory tariffs on products that rely on critical minerals coming from China, including electromagnets, permanent magnets, batteries, solar panels and solar wafers.