Burgum Says US Taking ‘Extraordinary Steps’ to Foil CCP Market Manipulation

The Interior secretary says the Trump administration trade talks are exposing China’s vulnerability as ’the most energy-dependent country in the world.’

Then-North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks to reporters following the presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Key industries in the West were within weeks of shutting down last spring after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) levied export restrictions on seven heavy rare earths needed to manufacture magnets for everything from automobiles to F-35 fighter jets, according to United States Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

“We were going tit-for-tat” in renegotiating trade pacts, he told “American Thought Leaders” host Jan Jekielek in an Oct. 7 interview.