A Cornerstone Of The America First Mandate

The United States’ recent confrontations with Iran dominate the headlines, but the growing, if quieter, confrontation with China is just as real and, ultimately, more consequential.

According to CNN, “Xi Jinping has a plan for how the world should work, and … he’s escalating his push to challenge America’s global leadership — and put his vision front and center.” Xi’s vision and President Trump’s “America First” objective of economic dominance are completely at odds.

One indispensable weapon at President Trump’s disposal in this conflict with China is the nondescript-sounding Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). Established nearly 100 years ago to promote the export of U.S. goods and services, the Trump administration envisions kicking EXIM into overdrive to secure strategic supply chains and blunt China’s global ambitions.

Consider China’s overwhelming grip on the critical mineral supply chains that underpin America’s defense, energy, and industrial sectors. The U.S. is, for example, entirely import-dependent on niobium and scandium and heavily reliant on foreign sources for titanium—all of which are essential to advanced weapons systems, aerospace components, and next-generation manufacturing.

Now consider what that could mean should China invade Taiwan. In the event of conflict, China wouldn’t hesitate to weaponize its dominance of critical minerals by cutting off U.S. access, as it did when it briefly enacted export restrictions on seven rare earth elements earlier this year.

An often-overlooked pillar of China’s rare earth strategy is its brazen disregard for basic labor and environmental standards. A June 2025 report exposed how Chinese critical mineral producers in Xinjiang exploit Uyghur forced labor through state-run “labor transfer” programs—turning systemic human rights abuses into a competitive advantage. At least 77 mining and mineral-processing firms operate in the region, effectively slashing production costs by relying on coerced labor from persecuted ethnic minorities.

U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) have introduced legislation—the Strengthening Exports Against China Act—to push back against China by spurring more EXIM loans to “support U.S. exporters in emerging, less established fields.”

Providing EXIM with more flexibility, as Senators Mastro and Rounds propose, would directly benefit American critical mineral projects, such as the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in Nebraska. Should the project come to pass, Elk Creek would reduce U.S. dependency on imported critical minerals such as niobium, scandium, and titanium.

Critics who decry “government intervention” overlook a simple truth: global critical mineral markets are already rigged—distorted by Chinese state subsidies, predatory pricing, and forced labor. This isn’t free-market competition; it’s economic warfare, and America can’t afford to sit on the sidelines.

Fortunately, congressional leaders are sounding the alarm.

Of course, none of that will happen much longer unless Congress reauthorizes EXIM beyond 2026.

Congress faces a clear choice: reauthorize the Export-Import Bank to protect American jobs and blunt Chinese ambitions or resign ourselves to Chinese dependency. President Trump set the course; it is now up to lawmakers to fulfill his mandate.

James Carter is a Principal with Navigators Global. He previously headed President-elect Donald Trump’s tax team during the 2016-17 transition and served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for President George W. Bush. Sevastian Horton is Navigators Global’s Director of Legislative Affairs.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.