WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee reintroduced bipartisan legislation to decrease the United States’ reliance on adversarial nations like China for critical minerals. China is currently the dominant supplier for more than half of America’s critical mineral imports. These minerals are essential for the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries, military equipment, and other technology crucial to American economic competitiveness and homeland security. The Senators’ bill would address this threat to our manufacturing supply chains by creating an intergovernmental task force to find opportunities for increased domestic production and recycling of critical minerals.
"America's economic and national security interests are at risk when we depend on foreign adversaries like China for materials that are vital to our manufacturing and defense industries," said Senator Peters."This task force will coordinate efforts across federal, state, and local governments to develop a unified approach to producing and recycling critical minerals here at home, creating American jobs while ensuring our manufacturers have reliable access to these important materials."
The bipartisan Intergovernmental Critical Minerals Taskforce Act requires the President to create a task force and appoint representatives from federal agencies who must consult with state, local, and Tribal governments. The task force will work to determine how to address national security risks associated with America’s critical mineral supply chains and identify new domestic opportunities for mining, processing, refinement, reuse, and recycling of critical minerals. The legislation would also require the task force to publish a report to Congress and publish findings, guidelines, and recommendations to combat the United States’ reliance on China and other foreign nations for critical minerals.
The bill is endorsed by leaders from the Sierra Club, General Motors, Ford, and the American Automotive Policy Council.
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