Since U.S. President Donald Trump reentered office, analysts have struggled to make sense of his administration’s erratic foreign policy. But as FP’s Christina Lu writes, much of his agenda betrays one major through line: “potential access to China-free supply chains for critical minerals.”
Critical minerals, which include lithium and rare-earth elements, underpin the defense and energy sectors. They are essential to technologies from chips to F-35 fighter jets—and currently, the United States is deeply reliant on China for these resources.
But can the Trump administration’s tactics actually loosen China’s chokehold on critical mineral supply chains? And how much would stockpiling these resources even bolster U.S. national security? The essays and reporting below cut through the noise and offer real insight into the race for these powerful materials.
A worker mans a furnace during the nickel-smelting process in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province on March 30, 2019. Bannu Mazandra/AFP via Getty Images
Trump’s Chaotic Agenda Has a Critical Through Line
What do Greenland, Canada, and Ukraine have in common? Critical minerals, FP’s Christina Lu writes.
A vial filled with rare earths after they were extracted from electronic waste at the Geological and Mining Research Office in Orleans, France, on June 22, 2021.Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images
Rich Countries Stockpiling Critical Minerals Is Not a Plan
The global race for resources must not become another global risk, Patrick Schröder writes.
Workers operate machinery at an open-pit titanium mine in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine on Feb. 28. Roman Pilepey/AFP via Getty Image
Ukraine’s Minerals Won’t Solve U.S. Supply Chain Problems
Market realities will stymie Trump’s talking points, Joshua Busby, Emily J. Holland, and Morgan D. Bazilian write.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017.Thomas Peter/Getty Images
How Strong Is China’s Rare-Earth Card?
Washington is making big moves, but Beijing has a powerful hand, FP’s Christina Lu writes.
A woman demonstrates an XRF gun used to determine the purity of ore in a trading depot in the artisanal copper-cobalt mine of Kamilombe, near the city of Kolwezi in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on June 20, 2023.Emmet Livingstone/AFP via Getty Images
What the Critical Minerals Race Means for Women
They are crucial to the success of mining yet disproportionately shoulder its negative consequences, Jessica Anania writes.