US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday aimed at encouraging the defense industry to prioritize supplies from American companies in order to “secure its supply chains against physical, cyber or economic subversion”.
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This concerns in particular critical components, software and minerals, these rare metallic elements which are essential for the production of weapons systems, but also semiconductors or batteries for electric vehicles, in particular.
The text provides that the Pentagon will no longer grant authorization, as of January 1, to companies wishing to import the materials detailed by the decree unless they demonstrate that it was not possible for them to find a supplier in the United States.
A company that requests an exemption must in particular “document the exhaustive efforts made to find compliant equipment or prove that none was available,” detailed Peter Navarro, White House Trade Advisor, during a telephone press conference.
“This does not specifically concern China, but our dependence on the rest of the world,” said Mr. Navarro, when questioned on the subject.
The long-term goal is to ensure that the United States, “rather than being dependent on the rest of the world for these critical minerals,” can “emerge as a strategically dominant supplier through new technologies and innovations” in the sector, added Peter Navarro.
The United States, like the European Union (EU), is trying to organize itself to reduce its dependence on China for critical minerals.
Chinese companies have a preponderant share of the global value chain, which is seen by both partners as an economic and security risk.
Brussels and Washington signed an agreement in principle to this effect at the end of April, in order to strengthen their cooperation in this area, both for production and for supply.
Beijing has already restricted exports of these strategic resources.
So-called critical – or strategic – minerals include dozens of materials, including cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite and lithium, as well as rare earths.
