Trump invokes wartime powers to lift US minerals output

US president Donald Trump has invoked wartime powers in an effort to increase American minerals production and curb its reliance on China for critical resources.The Financial Times said Trump had signed an executive order directing the use of the Defense Production Act to mobilise industry and expand domestic minerals output on national security grounds. The order also instructs the government to streamline project permitting and provide loans to boost the domestic mining industry, the newspaper said. The order would “dramatically increase production of critical minerals and rare earths”, said Trump.The announcement was welcomed by the US mining industry. Rich Nolan, president of the National Mining Association, said it recognised that expanding the industry had become a “national security imperative”.“By encouraging streamlined and transparent permitting processes, combined with financing support to counter foreign market manipulation, we can finally challenge China’s mineral extortion,” he said.China holds a dominant position in many mineral supply chains. Even where China does not dominate the mining of a metal, it is often a big player its processing — as with lithium, which is used in batteries, said the Financial Times.The US imports about 80% of its aluminium needs, much of which comes from Canada, according to JPMorgan. It also imports almost half of the copper it consumes, the newspaper said citing ING Bank.The post Trump invokes wartime powers to lift US minerals output appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com