US senators from the Republican and Democratic parties are planning to introduce a bill that would prohibit contractors of the country’s military-industrial complex from purchasing rare earth metals (REMs) from China, Reuters reports.
The bill would also require Pentagon contractors to notify authorities of the origin of the rare earths they use. These measures will only apply to weapons purchased by the Pentagon. The latter will have to create a strategic reserve of REM. In addition, the US trade representative will have to investigate whether China is abusing its dominant position in the rare earth market. As a result of the investigation, trade sanctions against Beijing may be recommended.
It is expected that the proposed measures could be included in the US defense budget bill later this year. They do not imply direct support for the extraction of rare earth elements in the United States, but the authors of the initiative believe that they will still contribute to the development of the industry. “Ending America’s dependence on China for rare earth mining and processing is critical to strengthening the US defense and technology industries,” Republican Tom Cotton, one of the bill’s sponsors, told the agency.
Rare earth metals include 17 elements from which magnets are made, which are widely used in the production of defense products and electronics, including Javelin missile systems and F-35 fighters. Now this industry is dominated by China – according to the US Geological Survey, this country accounted for about 60% of the world’s REM production in 2020.
At the same time, China has the largest proven reserves of such elements in the world – 44 million tons (world reserves are estimated at 120 million tons). For comparison, 38,000 tons of rare-earth metals were mined in the United States the year before last, and the country’s reserves are estimated at 1.5 million tons.
As Reuters notes, there is only one mine in the United States for the extraction of rare earth metals, and the country does not have the necessary capacities to process them.
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