President Trump recently signed an Executive Order to increase the use of domestically sourced materials in military procurement, an important step toward strengthening America’s national security. It was absolutely the right thing to do. However, while demand-side policy can encourage companies to buy American, it must be paired with supply-side solutions that make American production possible.
The President’s order recognizes an increasingly urgent reality. The United States cannot maintain the world’s strongest military while depending on geopolitical competitors for the minerals that make modern defense systems possible.
Minerals are foundational to America’s defense industrial base. They are essential materials in fighter aircraft, precision-guided munitions, naval vessels, advanced communications systems and countless other defense technologies that keep us safe. Ensuring those materials come from reliable domestic and allied sources is not simply an economic priority. It is a national security imperative.
Japan offers a warning
You don’t have to look far to see the consequences of allowing a critical mineral supply chain to remain dependent on a geopolitical competitor. Consider what is happening in Japan.
One of America’s closest allies and one of the world’s most advanced manufacturing economies, Japan is once again struggling to secure supplies of heavy rare earth elements after China tightened export controls. Despite years of work to diversify its supply, Japan remains vulnerable because China continues to dominate key portions of the global rare earth supply chain. Dozens of Japanese companies are warning in corporate filings that the restrictions are threatening production across automotive, defense and tech manufacturing, potentially impacting the country’s broader economy.
We should view Japan’s experience as a warning, not because America lacks mineral resources, but because we have failed to fully develop them.
Standing in our own way
The United States is home to mineral reserves valued at an estimated $6.2 trillion. Yet imports supply more than half of our consumption for 54 nonfuel mineral commodities, including 16 for which the nation is 100 percent net import reliant. China is a leading or major supplier of many of those minerals, leaving American manufacturers and our defense industrial base unnecessarily vulnerable. Those numbers are not the result of geology, but bad policy. And nowhere is that policy failure more evident than in the time it takes to develop a new American mine.
Today, bringing a new mine from discovery to production in the United States takes nearly three decades. It is the second-longest timeline in the world. In contrast, China can bring new mines online in a fraction of that time, helping further cement its dominance over the world’s mineral supply chains. With these facts in mind, we must face the stark reality that any executive order, procurement preference or domestic-content requirement will be hamstrung by a permitting system that delays projects for decades. If America cannot produce the minerals our manufacturers are being asked to purchase, those supply chains will remain vulnerable regardless of our intentions.
When Congress returns from the August recess, it can help our country take the next logical step. Lawmakers should advance bipartisan permitting reforms like the SPEED Act and the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act that create the certainty needed to unlock long-term investment across the American minerals supply chain.
America has the mineral resources, a dynamic workforce and the technological expertise to lead the world in critical mineral production. What we need now is a policy framework that turns those advantages into secure domestic supply chains.
The administration has sent an important signal to the market. Congress should seize this opportunity to finish the job. In the end, “Buy American” only works if we first commit to “Mine American.”