US President Donald Trump has currently postponed the decision to impose import duty (tariff) on rare earth, lithium and other important minerals. Instead, he has instructed his government to ensure the supply of these minerals by negotiating with international trading partner countries. This step of Trump has come at a time when the US Supreme Court is considering the legal validity of his already imposed tariffs.
It is clear from this decision that America is still not self-sufficient in the important minerals it needs. This is the reason why resentment can also be seen in the domestic mining industry. Trump has instructed US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick to start negotiations with trading partner countries, so that the import of important minerals is done in such a way that there is no threat to America's national security.
Trump says that in these talks, emphasis should also be laid on setting a minimum price (price floor) for important minerals. The mining industry and policy makers of western countries have been raising this demand for a long time. Recently, this issue was also discussed in the meeting of finance ministers of G-7 countries and representatives of big economies like Australia in Washington.
The President has also indicated that if Greer and Latnick's talks are not successful, he could set minimum import prices for critical minerals or take other stringent measures. However, he did not give details of these other measures. In fact, Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick had warned in a report last year that America was overly dependent on foreign sources for important minerals. The report said that lack of secure supply chain and huge fluctuations in prices could become a major threat to America's national security.
China remains America's biggest concern in this entire matter. According to the US Geological Survey, out of the 54 minerals considered important, China is a major producer of more than half. Not only this, China also has a strong hold in the refining sector of these minerals. Trump has clearly said that even if mining takes place within the country, but there remains dependence on foreign countries for processing, then national security cannot be considered completely safe.
