WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Mining Association’s (NMA) Katie Sweeney, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, is testifying today before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy & Commerce’s Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations and will be discussing ways to enhance domestic mineral supply chains. Her full written testimony can be found here.
In her comments, Ms. Sweeney outlined how China has established and continues to maintain such an advantage in the global minerals market:
- “China’s strong supply chain position does not result from an inherent advantage in reserves for most materials, but rather from heavy non-market activities, market manipulation, government subsidization and from investments in mining, processing and manufacturing industries. As a result, China’s share of global mineral production and processing has grown markedly since 1990 for many mineral commodities.”
- “…distortive and unfair market practices employed by countries like China, including providing subsidies to its domestic industries, create significant challenges for U.S. producers and destabilize global critical minerals supply chains. These subsidies take various forms, including direct financial support to domestic processing facilities, energy subsidies that lower electricity and operational costs, and tax incentives coupled with preferential loan programs. Consequently, Chinese producers can export critical minerals and downstream products, at artificially low prices, making it increasingly difficult for U.S. manufacturers to compete in both domestic and international markets.”
She also outlined a number of steps that the U.S. can take to counter China’s clear current advantage including:
- Permitting reform that tackles the needlessly lengthy and cumbersome process to bring mines online in the U.S.
- Federal investments and incentives — such as grants, tax credits, preferred loans, R&D funding, incentives for domestic sales, and price support — for domestic mineral production and refining projects.
- Use of the National Security Capital Forum, Defense Production Act funds, leveraging of Export-Import Bank programs, preferred loans, investments at the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories, incentives for domestic sales, and set-aside quotas for domestic mineral production and refining projects.
- Implementing educational grant programs to support mining and trade schools, alongside training and development initiatives, to ensure a robust workforce to support increased domestic operations.
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