US actions for strategic autonomy for REE / critical materials

Synopsis : On 20^th March 2025 President Trump has signed  an executive order invoking war time powers to help boost production of critical materials and rare earth elements within USA . The main objective is to regain the leadership in production of REE and critical minerals so as to ensure strategic autonomy for supply of these materials totally independent of China . During the first term as well as in the present term, President Trump has maintained a position that overemphasis on environmental policies promoted by the environmental hawks should not hamper economic progress and there has to be a priority for the overall economic progress of  USA respecting the environmental laws in force. Afterall , the prosperity of USA was founded on large scale mining and exploitation of natural resources.  USA started producing REEs in 1970’s with the ores mined from the Mountain Pass mines in California . First major use of  Neodymium and Lanthanum in USA was in rechargeable batteries for portable electronic devices and video cameras. Almost simultaneously ,General Motors popularized use of Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets in automobiles. Thereafter , permanent magnets found wide use in RADAR systems . USA was the leader in the production of REEs till 1985.. As part of the globalization process , USA encouraged Chinese companies to set up facilities for the production of Rare Earth Elements in China . By 1995, China overtook US in REE production . In view of multiple environmental issues , USA started reducing its production of REE with the closure of the factory in 2002. Production of REE was restarted in USA in 2012 and the entire industry got a boost during the first term of President Trump. Production started picking up in USA  reaching 43 kilotonnes in 2023 and 45 kilotonnes in 2024 and it is bound to go up year after year.  

1.Introduction

Use of rare earth elements ( REE ) has become so important that every country including USA and members of EU have become overdependent on China which has a quasi-monopoly in this field . China had put Japan into trouble by stopping supply of REE to Japan after the fishing coat standoff in 2010. China is now openly adopting weaponization-tactics for the  supply of REE. Although USA may work out a  temporary solution for supplies from China  , President Trump’s attempts are to find a lasting solution for USA for its huge needs of not only REE but also all the critical materials  on a long term basis. With the expected penury on account of multifold increase in the requirement of permanent magnets,  it will also be necessary to examine technical development of efficient permanent magnets without using REEs.  USA was the leader in the manufacture of REEs till around 1985 and transferred manufacturing to China for getting better prices and particularly for transferring the environmental issues associated with the production of RREs. US realized the need for being self-reliant only by 2012 and actions were initiated particularly during the first term of President Trump for local production . Still USA is dependent on China for large quantities of REEs even now . It is also necessary to recognize the fact that all the issues which prompted USA to outsource REE to China continue to exist and technical and economical solutions will make local production much more expensive in comparison to the present prices.

2. REE and Critical Materials

An analysis made by EU identifies that all the 17 Rare earth elements and 17 other special metals as essential for strategic autonomy for the needs of future . These special metals include Cobalt, Nickel , Manganese, Lithium etc . US Congress Research Service has identified 50 critical materials including REE and highlighted that there was 100 % import of 12 of these items,  around 50 % import of  another 29 materials  in 2022 . China is the leading producer of  29 of these 50 critical materials in 2023.

2.1.Major use of REE

REEs are used for a variety of applications . As of now , around 29 % of the total requirement of REEs is for permanent magnets , 20 % for catalysts, 14 % for polishing , 9 % for metallurgy, 8 % for batteries and 8 % for glass/ceramics . The whole world is so dependent on the use of REEs that almost all the industrial activities will come to a standstill without the availability of REEs. Recycling of used products for recovering REEs has become crucial for sustainable development through the adoption of circular economy . I give below details of some of the REEs which are used predominantly now .

Neodymium : permanent magnets ( Nd-Fe-B) used in automobiles, computer hard disc drives , CD -ROMs, digital cameras etc

Lanthanum : Catalysts used in petrochemical industries , high refractive index glasses, batteries and energy storage, medical applications , superconductivity magnets, metal alloys, water electrolysis etc.

Cerium : Catalytic convertors, polishing agent in semiconductor industry, glass and ceramic industries, metal alloys etc

Yttrium : Lasers, high performance ceramics, water electrolysis, medical technology etc

Praseodymium : Permannet magnets , Pigments for glass/enamels , metal alloys, ceramic capacitors, fibre-optics, neutron captors in nuclear reactors etc .

2.2.Global deposits and production of REE

Identified Global reserves REE ores million tonnes

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/rare-earth-reserves-by-country

2.3.Global production  in kilotonnes

Source  https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-global-rare-earth-metals-production-1995-2023/

Note : USA was the biggest producer of rare earth minerals till 1985 when China started production of REE. USA reduced its production year after year and it came to almost nil in 2002 . Thereafter USA started production again in 2012 and had a production of 5.9 kilotonnes in 2015 .  President Trump signed an Executive Order on 30^th September 2020  declaring a National Emergency to expand the domestic mining industry, support mining jobs, alleviate unnecessary permitting delays, and reduce US  dependence on China for critical minerals. Production started picking up and reached 43 kilotonnes in 2023  and 45 kilotonnes in 2024. In view the urgency in the matter, President Trump has issued another executive order on 20 /3/2025 for increasing production of REES. Extract is given below :

“ The United States possesses vast mineral resources that can create jobs, fuel prosperity, and significantly reduce our reliance on foreign nations.  Transportation, infrastructure, defense capabilities, and the next generation of technology rely upon a secure, predictable, and affordable supply of minerals.  The United States was once the world’s largest producer of lucrative minerals, but overbearing Federal regulation has eroded our Nation’s mineral production.  Our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production.  It is imperative for our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent”  .

All these steps are in the right direction for ensuring strategic autonomy for USA provided the execution is done taking care of all the environmental issues ( air , water ,soil ) .

3. Environmental issues

Different processes for the production of REEs are mining , beneficiation , crushing , grinding , magnetic separation , flotation with chemicals , filter-pressing , sludge treatment and electrolysis . all the processes generate considerable amount of pollutants ( air , water and soil ) and the treatment processes are quite expensive .  The cost of production of REE should take into account the full cost for handling all the environmental issues . The mining could involve health-hazards relating to heavy metals and even radioactive materials . The environmental issues which prompted the closure of Mountain pass mines continue to exist and cost of production with full compliance with environmental rules will go up considerably and this should be considered as the price to pay for strategic autonomy . Since the quantity requirement of REE is small for making the final product , the impact of such an increase on the unit  cost may not be considerable. Recycling route is an important source for recovery of REE and this should be activated fully . Elsevier publication” Science of the total environment August 2022, 155022 “  gives a comparison of the GHG emission during the production of REE and the savings in GHG emissions adopting REE for green energy . The net saving may not be much.  It will be necessary to examine the matter further based on other studies on the subject and  new  studies as well .

4. President Trump’s strategy for REE and critical materials President Trump’s strategy is centred around creating access to mines of REEs and critical materials in as many countries as possible for firming up supplies of refined metals or metal oxides for refining in USA as well as to explore deposits within USA to the maximum extent possible so that USA does not have to depend on countries like China . This was one of the objectives when President Trump expressed his desire to make Canada and Greenland part of USA. Greenland has huge deposits of graphite, platinum group of metals , Chromium , cobalt etc . Vast Exclusive Economic Zones of Canada and Greenland  in the oceans are also a big contributing factor for President Trump’s interests in these countries  because sea-bed mining is likely to become important in the years to come . The agreement with Vietnam which has the second biggest deposits of REE ores will facilitate REE production in Vietnam . President Trump has already initiated discussions with Congo for examining the possibility of mining of copper , cobalt and manganese . In my view , President Trump will explore possibilities with the following nations

4. A new programme for mining in USA for REE and critical materials . US Congress has been deliberating on the need for strategic autonomy for REE and Critical minerals for quite some time and has passed several acts for undertaking local production . US Geological Survey department has been entrusted with the task of assessing the requirement , mapping of local availability and proposing a plan by 2031 . USGS report 2024 states that the United States was 100% net import- reliant for 12 of the 50 critical minerals in 2022 critical and more than 50% net import reliant for an additional 29. Different initiatives launched by President Trump will give a new thrust to the whole matter . President’s executive order directs the  departments of Energy and Defense to identify as many sites as possible on federal land for leasing to private entreprises for undertaking mining operation and commercial production. Extract from the order is given below

“Our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production. It is imperative for our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent”

5.Conclusion

5.1.President Trump always had an obsession that control of the mineral wealth of the world is essential for ensuring supply of REE and critical materials for ensuring the economic progress of USA. He seems to be ready to go to any extent to achieve this objective .

5.2.President Trump is almost averse to the environmental activism and he considers that environmental extremism will affect the economic progress of USA. However , economic activities should be undertaken respecting fully all the environmental laws in force

5.3. Uncertainties in geopolitical situations could disrupt global supply chains and US should always have local sourcing/proximity sourcing possibilities to overcome such temporary difficulties .

5.4.US has always been a land of innovation and should target development of new products to replace REE- dependent products .

5.5. The actions of US corporations for  shifting of manufacturing activities to China in a big way under the policies of  globalization for maximizing profit was a mistake. This has resulted in Economic deficit , Social deficit and technical deficit in USA. There is an urgent need to reverse the policies adopted during globalization. Bringing manufacturing back to USA will not be easy because of cost implications . USA , as a responsible nation,  has no other alternative other than local production of REE for achieving strategic autonomy .  Corporations will also have to recognize the fact that they have  a national responsibility for ensuring strategic autonomy of USA .

5.6. It is widely projected that REEs are required for almost all the green energy technologies. However , one should not overlook the fact that production of REE has several environmental issues and the cumulative impact on environment during the processes to manufacture REE will have to get reflected in the life cycle environmental impact of green energy . In any case, it will be interesting to compare the total GHG emission during REE production and the reduction in GHG emission on account of adoption of green        technologies . There could be some surprises.