China’s Battery Mineral Monopoly Poses National Security Risk: Report 

A new report finds that China controls over 80 percent of minerals essential for U.S. military batteries.
China’s Battery Mineral Monopoly Poses National Security Risk: Report 
Employees work at a factory that produces lithium battery for export in Huaibei, China, on June 11, 2024. STR/AFP via Getty Images
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China monopolizes over 80 percent of critical raw battery minerals used in U.S. military equipment, posing a serious national security threat, new research has found.

Beijing’s “brute force economics” utilizes a bevy of non-market practices, including price manipulation, export dumping, and intellectual property theft, to build a dominant supply chain of batteries that are essential in cars, cellphones, and U.S. military drones, according to a July 21 report from Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington D.C.-based think tank.