WASHINGTON – Today, the Trump Administration released, “A Federal Strategy to Ensure a Reliable Supply of Critical Minerals,” to make America’s economy and defense more secure. The strategy directs the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to locate domestic supplies of those minerals, ensure access to information necessary for the study and production of minerals, and expedite permitting for minerals projects.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, today’s federal strategy lays out a blueprint for America to once again be a leader in the critical minerals sector,” said Secretary David Bernhardt. “As with our energy security, the Trump Administration is dedicated to ensuring that we are never held hostage to foreign powers for the natural resources critical to our national security and economic growth. The Department will work expeditiously to implement the President's strategy from streamlining the permitting process to locating domestic supplies of minerals.”
This map shows the countries that supply mineral commodities for which the United States was more than 50 percent import reliant in 2018. USGS graphic. Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019.
Currently, the U.S. relies on other countries completely for more than a dozen of minerals that are vital to our economy and security. These minerals are used for things like cell phones, computers, automobiles, airplanes, ships, and many other products that are critical to our economy and security.
In 2017, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13817, A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals. This Executive Order called on agencies across the federal government to develop a strategy to reduce the Nation’s susceptibility to critical mineral supply disruptions.
In May of 2018, DOI took the first step in the strategy, releasing a list of 35 minerals deemed critical to the U.S. economy and security, based on a methodology by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This list forms the foundation of the full strategy, which entails a number of other actions that the Department will take.
