Lawmakers Aim to End Chinese Critical Minerals Monopoly

A bipartisan effort to terminate China’s grip on the critical minerals sector is underway in the US Senate.

Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mark Warner (D-VA), and colleagues introduced the Global Strategy for Securing Critical Minerals Act of 2024 to combat China’s dominance in the field.

Currently, China is the largest producer of processed critical minerals, processing nearly all of the available critical mineral stock.

According to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report, China processes 40% of mined Copper, 70% of Cobalt, 65% of Lithium, 100% of Graphite, and 90% of rare earth metals.

Last year, Senators Rubio and Warner warned President Joe Biden of the implications of China’s critical mineral monopoly.

Rubio urged the Biden administration to reduce the U.S.’s reliance on China for minerals that are used in critical technologies.

Through a letter, Rubio proposed increasing support from the government to U.S. private sector companies investing and operating in critical mineral projects.

Despite President Biden’s subsequent executive actions to strengthen American critical mineral supply chains, Democrat and Republican senators believe additional measures are necessary.

If passed, the Global Strategy for Securing Critical Minerals Act of 2024 will allegedly combat China’s dominance in the field as well as ensure the U.S. with secure end-to-end supplies of critical minerals.

“The U.S. must have a comprehensive response to China’s dominion over the global critical mineral industry,” said Rubio. “With our consensus package, Senator Warner and I hope to free our nation’s supply chains from China’s industrial monopoly.”

Among other measures, the act would streamline diplomatic efforts for securing critical minerals, enhance US public financing tools for mineral procurement, and create an investment fund for critical mineral metallurgical facilities.