Posted on Tuesday, June 3, 2025
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by Outside Contributor
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Modern economies and militaries run on minerals. The artificial intelligence revolution relies on silicon chips, which require quartz. Tanks require steel, which is made from iron. Every vehicle in America requires a starter battery, and every starter battery uses antimony.
As policymakers begin to recognize the national security importance of critical minerals, they face a difficult math problem: even a miraculous turnaround in mining in the United States and among our allies would not be enough to de-risk us from China. Thus, America must not only mine but also invest in innovation that enables us to reuse minerals, such as recycling starter batteries, to maximize the value of the resources.
Today, China controls 70 percent of the world’s rare earth elements production, including 66 percent of the world’s lithium, 75 percent of the world’s cobalt, and 50 percent of the world’s antimony. Worse yet, China is even more dominant in the world’s mineral processing capacity. This gives China enormous leverage over other countries, and its leaders are aware of this.
Soon after President Trump’s re-election, China banned the export of antimony to the United States. Far more than a shot across the bow, this was likely a bold preview of future actions.
Against this reality, it is increasingly urgent that the administration provide strong economic and policy leadership to develop and secure domestic supply chains for critical industries and products. Securing our vitally important battery supply chain from end to end is necessary to ensure that China can never hold our economy hostage.
Since assuming office, Trump has taken steps to counteract China’s mineral imperialism. Take, for example, his April executive order to increase domestic mining and his efforts to further economic partnership opportunities with Ukraine and Greenland, which host significant deposits of critical minerals. He has been so energetic that he has been criticized for being “obsessed” with vital minerals. Trump is right to act quickly and aggressively to face down an urgent Chinese threat to our economy and national security.
China’s antimony export ban, for example, has raised the cost of vehicle batteries. We can replace the supply lost due to China’s export ban for now, but not easily, quickly, or inexpensively. The antimony ban is also a possible step toward China flooding our battery market, harming or eliminating domestic manufacturers, and possibly even spying on our energy industry via embedded intelligence devices.
America must never depend on China for something as fundamental as starter batteries.
The administration has set a goal for America to achieve not just energy independence but energy dominance. Energy dominance requires battery dominance, and battery dominance is not possible without access to raw minerals and sufficient processing capacity.
Creating this domestic supply system for batteries will, in the near term, require the United States to assemble a confederation that includes Australia (iron), Chile (lithium), Congo (cobalt, copper), Indonesia (copper), and several South American countries. In parallel, we will need to expand the mining of battery minerals in the United States and build factories to process them, which today do not exist. That will require policy guidance and incentives, and sound regulatory streamlining.
The third leg of this stool is ensuring that the United States maintains and expands its decades-long ability to rebuild batteries and keep their vital components in circulation. Remanufacturing captures key minerals and materials in usable form, reducing the overall need for raw minerals and processing.
U.S. manufacturers can reuse 99 percent of the materials in spent starter batteries and convert them into new batteries. This system is supported by a vital federal tax credit known as 45X, and Congress must ensure that this credit remains entirely in place until we have a secure battery supply chain from mining to manufacturing and beyond.
The United States has a vastly superior military to China’s, but this will be of little help in a conflict if China controls the battery materials we need to power our transport vehicles, planes, helicopters, tanks, and weapons systems. A key part of energy dominance is enhancing and protecting our battery manufacturing capability by securing our critical mineral supply chain, surging our mineral processing capacity, and maintaining our ability to recycle starter batteries. The president must continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that vital supply lines are in American hands.
William “Bill” Crane is a former adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Reprinted with permission from DC Journal by William Krane.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
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