The recent rare earth export restrictions serve as a stark reminder of the strategic importance of minerals...

With China recently imposing export restrictions on rare earth elements—leading to U.S. automakers to halt production due to supply shortages—one of the most urgent issues is how to establish reliable Western supplies of essential critical minerals. A major challenge to achieving mineral security is China’s manipulation of global markets, whereby Chinese companies flood the market with excess supply, driving prices down to levels that force mining operations in countries like the United States and Australia to shut down. This approach has not only exposed the United States and its allies to heightened supply vulnerabilities but also made it difficult for them to compete with China under current market conditions:...

On April 4, China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed export controls on seven rare earth elements in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods. On May 11, U.S. and Chinese officials met in Switzerland and reached a 90-day tariff truce, which included removing U.S. companies from China’s trade blacklist—allowing them renewed access to rare earth supplies. Despite the agreement, the situation remained unstable, as U.S. manufacturers began shutting down operations due to rare earth shortages. Following the Geneva talks, President Trump accused China of reneging on the deal. While China did not officially withdraw from the agreement, it delayed issuing export licenses, effectively using the bureaucratic slowdown as leverage to bring the United States back to the negotiating table....

Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Wyden, and distinguished Members of the Committee, I am honored to share my views with you on this important topic. CSIS does not take policy positions, so the views represented in this testimony are my own and not those of my employer....

This is the first installment in a five-part series providing data-driven analysis and recommendations to strengthen U.S.-Africa collaboration in the critical minerals sector....

Washington has almost no alternative: until 2023 China processed 99% of the world’s heavy rare earth elements...

As the Group of Seven (G7) prepares to hold its 51st Summit in June 2025 in Kananaskis, Canada, critical mineral security is poised to be a major topic of discussion. All G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) have emphasized securing critical minerals as a strategic priority. In the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ 2023 Communiqué, the group stressed “the growing importance of critical minerals for the clean energy transition and the need to prevent economic and security risks caused by vulnerable supply chains, monopolization, and lack of diversification of existing suppliers of critical minerals.” Since then, individual countries have released executive orders and national strategies for developing critical mineral resources. However, there is significant scope to strengthen coordination between these seven countries to mobilize collective resources, diversify, and de-risk supply chains....

The Issue...

On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, the United States and Ukraine signed a long-awaited deal to establish a joint investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine. The fund will be capitalized, in part, by revenues from future natural resource extraction. The newly signed agreement is a positive step in U.S.-Ukraine relations following contentious meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. While more favorable to Ukraine than earlier iterations, the deal’s effectiveness hinges on long-term peace and stable investment conditions. Key barriers include outdated geological surveys, degraded energy infrastructure, and unresolved security risks. The agreement reflects the Trump administration’s transactional approach to mineral diplomacy and may serve as a template for similar deals, such as the emerging U.S.–Democratic Republic of the Congo cooperation framework....

On Thursday, April 24, President Donald Trump revealed his latest executive order (EO) aimed at securing critical mineral supply chains and countering China’s dominance in the industry. “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources” directs the Department of Commerce, in coordination with a number of executive agencies, to pursue the exploration and exploitation of deep-sea resources both within the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and areas beyond national jurisdiction. For decades, the United States has remained on the sidelines of the deep-sea mining debate as an international body has governed the world’s richest seabed resources. The Trump administration has unequivocally signaled this will no longer be the case. The emphasis on U.S. leadership in the deep-sea mining arena demonstrates the administration’s commitment to an all-of-the-above approach to securing critical mineral supply chains. Nevertheless, this shift in deep-sea mining policy carries major implications for U.S. maritime security and the U.S.-China competition for critical resources....

China doesn’t import manufactured products while the US market is more diverse...

On April 4, China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements (REEs) and magnets used in the defense, energy, and automotive sectors in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff increases on Chinese products. The new restrictions apply to 7 of 17 REEs—samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium—and requires companies to secure special export licenses to export the minerals and magnets....