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Your guide to what US elections in 2024 mean for Washington and the world
Donald Trump raised war forces in the framework of an extensive effort to increase the production of US minerals and to reduce relying to China for critical resources.
On Thursday, the President signed an executive order that ordered the use of the Defense Production Act to mobilize industry and expand the production of domestic minerals due to national security.
The order also gives the government to streamline the project permission and provide loans to strengthen the domestic Mining industry.
On Thursday speaking from the White House, Trump He said that the order “dramatically increases the production of critical minerals and rare countries”.
The Directive, which was pretended to be at the Trump address of Congress this month, is coming to the President of the President to shut down the US to rely on China, dominating supply chains for many critical minerals racing to ensure.
Trump's administration has already launched interviews with the Democratic Republic of Congo on access to its minerals and the president's threat to the attachment of Greenland are partly driven by the desire to use its rare soil.
Trump said on Thursday that the stopped agreement to gain access to the Ukrainian minerals will be signed “very briefly”.
“It's a big thing in this country and as you know, we also sign agreements in various places to unlock rare soils and minerals and many other things around the world, but especially to Ukraine,” he said.
The president spoke before signing a long -supported executive order to “start eliminating” the US educational department.
The US is the main importer of metals, including copper and aluminum that has a wide range of uses, from construction to energy and technology, as well as less known, such as rare soils used in defense and automotive industries.
Thursday's order will direct federal agencies to compile a list of projects waiting for approval “to speed up [their] Reviews and progress, ”according to the White House official. It will also allow them to prefer federal land for mining over other uses and to provide loans for new projects through the US International Development Finance.
By calling for the Defense Production Act, which was undergoing in 1950 after the outbreak of the Korean War, the president can mobilize the domestic industry to supply the materials considered critical to the national defense.
Trump earlier suggested that the law was Anti-business But he triggered it several times in his first term. After the pressure of legislators and medical officials, he used it to accelerate the production of fans and personal protective equipment in March 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, but was criticized for not using his powers earlier.
Former President Joe Biden has also caused the law several times, including a lack of deficiency infant recipe And increase the extraction of minerals critical for the transition of green energy.
The announcement was welcomed by the US mining industry. Rich Nolan, President of the National Mining Association, said he acknowledged that the expansion of industry became a “national security imperative”.
“Encouraging efficient and transparent processes permits in combination with the support of funding that faces manipulation with the foreign market, we can finally question Chinese mineral extortion,” he said.
China has a dominant position in many mineral supply chains. Although China is dominated by metal mining, it is often a big player in its processing – as in lithium, which is used in batteries.
The US imports about 80 percent of its aluminum needs, most of which come from Canada, according to JPMORGANA. According to banks, it also imports almost half of the copper it consumes.
