US President Donald Trump has invoked emergency powers to boost domestic production of critical minerals used widely across the economy as part of a broad effort to offset China's near-total control of the sector and said the Ukraine minerals deal will happen “very shortly”.
The move on Thursday is the latest by Trump to increase US energy and minerals production and comes amid an escalating trade conflict with China, Canada and other large minerals producers that supply American manufacturers.
Lithium, nickel and other critical minerals are used in many electronics, and demand is expected to surge in coming years for production of electric-vehicle batteries. China is the world's largest producer or processor of many critical minerals.
Trump signed a n executive order that taps the Cold War-era Defense Production Act (DPA) as part of an effort to provide financing, loans and other investment support to domestically process a range of critical minerals.
The DPA gives the Pentagon a wide berth to procure equipment necessary for national defence. Invoking it essentially declares that relying on rival nations for critical minerals constitutes a national security threat.
"The United States was once the world's largest producer of lucrative minerals, but overbearing federal regulation has eroded our nation's mineral production," the president said in the order.
The order directs federal agencies to create a list of US mines that can be quickly approved, as well as which federal lands, including those controlled by the Pentagon, could be used for minerals processing.
The order also encourages faster permitting for mining and processing projects and a directive for the Interior Department to prioritise mineral production on federal land. The order directs agencies to help boost US output of copper and gold, neither of which is considered a critical mineral by the US Geological Survey.
Ukraine minerals deal 'soon'
Trump also said on Thursday that the United States will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly.
"One of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine, which they have tremendous value in rare earth. And we appreciate that," he said during a ceremony at the White House.
Trump said he would love to see Russia's war against Ukraine "come to an end," describing ongoing negotiations as progressing "pretty well" after he held separate phone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
"Hopefully we could save thousands of people a week from dying. That's what it's all about. They're dying so unnecessarily. And I believe we'll get it done. We'll see what happens, but I believe we'll get it done," he said.
