America must break China’s grip on critical minerals before it’s too late

Critical minerals quietly power every aspect of modern American life. When you brew your morning coffee, you’re relying on copper wires and silicon chips working behind the scenes inside your coffee machine. When you take milk from the refrigerator, you’re relying on metal components, copper wiring, and electronic controls to keep everything cold. When you turn on the television, you see politicians bickering on cable news, and you stare at a screen made of indium, lithium, and rare earth phosphors.

Turn off the lights, hop in your car, connect your phone to Bluetooth, and turn on your favorite podcast to get the drive going. This daily routine depends on copper, lithium and many other critical minerals that power batteries, speakers, navigation systems, electric motors and modern communications technology.

These materials are so deeply ingrained in our daily lives that most Americans never think twice about them. But they should.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS TRYING TO BREAK CHINA’S RARE EARTH MINE IN AFRICA

Beijing certainly does. The Chinese Communist Party has spent decades and hundreds of billions of dollars capturing the market on critical minerals, from mining to processing and refining. Today, China controls nearly 70 percent of global rare earth mining and nearly 90 percent of rare earth processing capacity, and dominates the supply chains that underpin America’s economic and national security.

It’s not just about what goes into your coffee machine or iPhone. Critical minerals are essential to America’s military might, powering everything from advanced fighter jets and missile systems to radars, satellites and communications technology. China knows this and has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to weaponize global supply chains for geopolitical advantage.

Last year, Beijing imposed sweeping export controls on rare earths, disrupting global markets and sending shockwaves through defense and manufacturing supply chains. The results directly affected Americans. Supply disruptions are driving up costs, slowing production, threatening jobs and making everything from cars to consumer electronics more expensive and harder to produce.

The aerospace industry of my home state of California provides a clear example of what is at stake. The industry supports more than 350,000 jobs and generates tens of billions of dollars in economic output annually. It is also the center of America’s defense industrial base, which produces advanced aircraft, satellites and missile systems. Without reliable access to critical minerals, thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity are at risk.

President Trump and his administration understand the urgency of this challenge and are moving quickly to restore America’s energy and mining dominance. Recent efforts to strengthen domestic mining and support companies like MP Materials and Lithium Americas are important steps in the right direction.

But America cannot solve this problem alone. Despite increasing domestic production, global demand for critical minerals is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. Some estimates indicate that the world will consume as much copper in the next 25 years as humanity has consumed in recorded history.

That’s why we must work with our most trusted allies and friends to build strong, resilient supply chains away from China.

This week, my Emerging Overseas Mining Investments and New Allied Networks for Critical Energies (DOMINATION) Law It was passed by the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. The DOMINATION Act helps lock in President Trump’s critical minerals strategy and creates a coordinated approach to securing the supply chains that power our economy and national defense. This legislation strengthens America’s ability to work with allies, reduces dependence on China, and ensures that the free world, not the Chinese Communist Party, controls the resources that will define the 21st century.

This is not just about energy or industrial policy. This is not about military power or geopolitical competition, although that is certainly part of the calculus. At its core, this fight is about protecting the American Dream and our way of life.

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The devices in our homes, the cars we drive, the technology we rely on every day, and the military systems that defend our nation all depend on secure critical mineral supply chains. America can either experience this moment now or risk regretting it for the next 100 years.

I am optimistic that under this administration and with our allies, America can take back our critical mineral supply chains and reclaim our energy future.

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