The Trump administration is drafting an executive order to compete with the stockpilling of deep sea metals to combat China’s dominance in battery minerals and rare earth supply chains, the Financial Times said on Saturday citing people familiar with the matter.
The report states that under the schemes, Stockpile “will be prepared and available in large quantities on the future US region”, in the case of conflict with China, which can disrupt metals and rare earth imports, the report states.
Last week, China placed some rare earth elements under export restrictions as part of its reaction to President Donald Trump’s tariff package, possibly cutting the US from minerals for everything from smartphones to electric car batteries.
The report stated that Stockpile is being considered as part of a wider push to fast-track the fast-C mining application under the US Act, and to create an onshore processing capacity, the report states.
China produces about 90% of the world’s sophisticated rare Earth, a group of 17 elements used in defense, electric vehicles, clean energy and electronics industries. The US imports most of its rare earth, and most come from China.
The White House and China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments.
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