Trump Admin To Dish Out $355 Million And Loosen China’s Critical Mineral Vice Grip

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Friday that it is providing funding opportunities to “expand domestic production of critical minerals and materials.”

The DOE said in August that it would provide nearly $1 billion in funding opportunities to advance domestic critical mineral extraction and processing to break America’s reliance on foreign supply chains. Friday’s announcement advances funding efforts in a move that Energy Secretary Chris Wright described as a departure from American “complacency” in the critical mineral sector. 

“For too long, the United States has relied on foreign nations for the minerals and materials that power our economy,” Wright said in a statement. “We have these resources here at home, but years of complacency ceded America’s mining and industrial base to other nations. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are reversing that trend, rebuilding America’s ability to mine, process, and manufacture the materials essential to our energy and economic security.” 

The DOE announced that these first two critical mineral-related funding opportunities will focus on coal, “industrial byproducts and wastes” as well as mining and research projects. Notably, the Department of the Interior updated its definition of critical minerals on Nov. 7 to include materials like copper and coal.

America currently imports about 80% of the rare earth minerals it uses, largely from China, which maintains its chokehold on the global critical mineral supply chain and refining capacity. China has leveraged its critical mineral monopoly as a tactic in trading negotiations in recent months as the Trump administration placed tariffs on the American rival.