China is weaponizing its minerals monopoly

By RICH NOLAN
For more than a decade, Washington has talked a big game about breaking China’s grip on the world’s mineral supplies. And both presidents Trump and Biden have labeled America’s mineral vulnerability an unacceptable and urgent risk.
The alarming reality is this: China’s grip on the world’s mineral supply chains is growing tighter. And America’s reliance on Chinese minerals is growing deeper. This is a crisis that demands to be an important election issue.
This past August, Beijing announced export restrictions on antimony, a mineral used in semiconductors, batteries, and weapons systems. More than 300 types of munitions require antimony, and China dominates global production.
This is not the first time China has flexed its mineral muscles, and it won’t be the last. In little over a year, China has also put in place export controls on gallium, geranium, graphite, and rare earth metal processing technology. Each time the U.S. confronts China over its trade practices, or puts in place tariffs on Chinese products, Beijing reaches for the minerals lever.
China has turned itself into a minerals OPEC of one. As alarming as the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s was, the mineral security risk that confronts us today is perhaps greater. Never before has a chief geopolitical rival held such complete control over foundational pieces of America’s economy and defense. Of the 50 mineral commodities the U.S. government lists as essential for economic and national security, China is now the top producer for more than half.
China’s strategic foresight to capture mineral supply chains has only been matched by our negligence. An adversarial approach to domestic mining, and a willingness to offshore critical pieces of our industrial base, have come home to roost.
As mineral demand soars, and we struggle to reclaim mineral security, confronting the China threat will require a comprehensive approach. Partnerships with allies will be key, as will innovative technology solutions and mineral recycling. But ramping up domestic mineral production must be the centerpiece of this effort.
There have been important steps to reshore mineral supply chains, including loans and grants for producers as well as tariffs to counter Chinese dumping. However, the effectiveness of this support is colliding with America’s mine permitting problem and a startling lack of coordination between the agencies that govern U.S. mining.
A recent study found that it takes 29 years in the U.S. to go from mineral discovery to production. Without a commitment to streamline responsible domestic mine permitting—and turn U.S. resource potential into production—all the incentives and support imaginable to reshore mineral production will have no place to go. Smart minerals industrial policy must work in concert with efforts to address mine permitting delays and get responsible mines approved. America desperately needs a coherent, coordinated, and decisive minerals policy to confront China’s mineral extortion and build the secure mineral supply chains we desperately need.
Rich Nolan is President and CEO of the National Mining Association.