In a recent hearing, representative Gary Palmer, R-Ala., spoke on U.S. reliance on China’s imports for critical minerals and rare earth elements, warning that the lack of our domestic refining capabilities poses a major national security risk.
Palmer noted that of the nine major rare earth refineries worldwide, eight are in China, which does 70% of global cobalt mining and 80% of rare earth processing. He argued for the urgency of increasing domestic production and refining in order to ensure the economic and energy security of the nation.
“I’m a big proponent of nearshoring our supply chain, but we also need to do a whole lot more here in terms of our domestic production,” Palmer said.
