The Trump administration has funneled $15 billion in grants, tax credits, and incentives into 15 critical mining and refining projects, including $1 billion in taxpayer-funded “equity investments” in private companies, but Pentagon officials caution that it will take years of such sustained investment for domestic industry, including defense manufacturers, to overcome China’s manipulation of global minerals and metals markets.
Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a 90-minute hearing on Feb. 24 that it will require “sustained aggressive action” and new approaches to loosen the grip that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has on critical minerals needed for a range of electronics—from iPhones to F-35 fighter jets—that it steadily, and strategically, has built over decades.
