Senator Young, Cornyn introduce bill to secure critical mineral supply chains, counter Chinese dominance

U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced the Critical Minerals Security Act, which would help secure U.S. access to critical mineral supply chains and counter Chinese industry dominance.

More specifically, the legislation will direct the U.S. Department of the Interior to evaluate the global supply and ownership of critical minerals, establish a process to assist U.S. companies seeking to divest critical minerals operations in foreign countries, and develop a method for sharing intellectual property for clean mining and processing technologies with U.S. allies and partners.

“The Chinese Communist Party is aggressively attempting to monopolize critical mineral resources, and the United States urgently needs to diversify our supply chain and strengthen ties with allies,” said Senator Young. “Our legislation would respond to China’s actions by better tracking global mineral reserves and devising a national strategy for advancing mining technologies and international cooperation.”

“Despite the important role critical minerals play in everything from consumer electronics to military defense, we need more information to secure a reliable, long-term supply of these minerals,” said Senator Cornyn. “This legislation would ensure the U.S. and our allies understand how critical minerals are controlled around the world so we can counter foreign countries of concern.”

In addition to Senators Young and Cornyn, U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.), Angus King (I-Maine), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) also introduced the legislation.

Background:

To address information gaps, the Critical Minerals Security Act would direct the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to submit a report to Congress no later than one year after enactment and every two years afterward on all critical mineral and rare earth element (REE) resources around the world that includes:  

•      Which resources are controlled by the U.S., an ally or partner, or a foreign entity of concern;

•      From which mines critical minerals and REEs are being extracted and estimates of their output volumes;

•      Which foreign entities of concern are involved in mining critical minerals and REEs;

•      Which entities in the U.S. and countries that are allies or partners are involved in mining critical minerals and REEs;

•      An assessment, prepared in consultation with the Secretary of State, of ways to collaborate with countries in which mines or mineral processing operations are located and operated by other countries to ensure U.S. access;

•      A compilation, prepared in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, of cases in which entities were forced to divest stock in mining or processing operations for critical minerals and REEs based on government rulings of a foreign entity of concern;

•      Cases in which the government of a foreign entity of concern purchased an entity forced to divest stock;

•      And cases in which mining or processing operations for critical minerals and REEs were not subject to a government ruling but were taken over by a foreign entity of concern.

The legislation would also require the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to establish a process under which a U.S. entity seeking to divest stock in mining or mineral processing operations for critical minerals and REEs in a foreign country may notify the Secretary of the Interior and allow the Secretary to assist in finding another purchaser that is not under the control of a foreign entity of concern.

Lastly, it would require the Secretary of the Interior to develop and submit a progress report to Congress on:

•      A strategy to collaborate with U.S. allies and partners to advance clean mining, refining, separation, and processing technologies;

•      And a method for sharing intellectual property resulting from the development of these technologies to share with allies and partners.

The full text of the legislation can be found here.