Washington, D.C., March 21, 2025 – The Europe Today: U.S. President Donald Trump has invoked emergency powers to enhance domestic production of critical minerals, aiming to reduce reliance on China’s near-total control of the sector. The move, announced on Thursday, is part of a broader effort to strengthen U.S. energy and minerals production amid escalating trade conflicts with China, Canada, and other major mineral producers.
Lithium, nickel, and other critical minerals are essential components in electronics and electric-vehicle batteries, with global demand expected to surge in the coming years. China remains the world’s largest producer and processor of many of these essential resources.
Trump signed an executive order leveraging the Cold War-era Defense Production Act (DPA) to provide financing, loans, and investment support for domestic mineral processing. The DPA grants the Pentagon broad authority to procure resources deemed vital for national defense, with the order classifying dependence on foreign critical minerals as a national security threat.
“The United States was once the world’s largest producer of lucrative minerals, but overbearing federal regulation has eroded our nation’s mineral production,” Trump stated in the order.
The directive instructs federal agencies to compile a list of U.S. mines that can be fast-tracked for approval, as well as federal lands, including those controlled by the Pentagon, that could be utilized for mineral processing. It also calls for expedited permitting for mining projects and prioritization of mineral production on federal land. Additionally, the order directs agencies to facilitate the expansion of U.S. copper and gold output, despite neither being classified as critical minerals by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Ukraine Minerals Deal Expected Soon
President Trump also announced on Thursday that the United States is set to finalize a minerals and natural resources agreement with Ukraine “very shortly.”
“One of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine, which they have tremendous value in rare earth. And we appreciate that,” Trump said during a White House ceremony.
The president also addressed ongoing negotiations regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, describing progress as “pretty well” following separate phone conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
“Hopefully, we can save thousands of people a week from dying. That’s what it’s all about. They’re dying so unnecessarily. And I believe we’ll get it done. We’ll see what happens, but I believe we’ll get it done,” Trump stated.
Further details on the Ukraine minerals agreement and its potential impact on global rare earth supply chains are expected in the coming days.
