Trump Admin Looks To Pour Cash Into Critical Minerals To Break China’s Stranglehold

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Wednesday that it is seeking to fund nearly $1 billion worth of projects to boost the American critical mineral industry.

DOE announced Wednesday that it will provide funding opportunities intended to advance domestic critical mineral extraction and processing, stating that the projects will enhance national security and bolster American energy dominance. The U.S. currently imports about 80% of the rare earths it consumes, largely from China, which maintains its chokehold on the global critical mineral supply chain and refining capacity.

“For too long, the United States has relied on foreign actors to supply and process the critical materials that are essential to modern life and our national security,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the Energy Department will play a leading role in reshoring the processing of critical materials and expanding our domestic supply of these indispensable resources.”

The move falls in line with President Donald Trump’s day-one executive order to unleash American energy. The five proposed notices of funding opportunities (NOFOs) are aimed at boosting critical mineral mining and refining as well as enhancing the domestic rare earth supply chain.

While former President Joe Biden imposed strict mining regulations, Trump has signed a series of executive orders to loosen restrictions on the coal industry and made moves to boost domestic rare earth mineral acquisition.

Notably, the Pentagon moved in July to become the largest shareholder of stock in MP Minerals, which oversees another rare earth minerals mine located in Mountain Pass, California.

Wright also recently championed a new coal mine that will also extract critical minerals in Wyoming, noting that the project will help free the U.S. from China’s rare earth mineral stranglehold.

“This is America answering the call. We’ve become too dependent on critical minerals from countries overseas, most of all China,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in July as he joined the mine’s developer, Ramaco Resources, for the opening ceremony. “We have these materials here in the United States. … In Wyoming, we have two critical things together: coal, the biggest source of electricity on the planet, and rare earth minerals, critical to our national security and our economic security.”

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