"Made-in-America should mean mined-in-America, and we need coordination at the highest levels of government — across federal agencies that share authority over minerals policy — to ensure it happens."
economic and geopolitical rivals. Of the 50 mineral commodities the U.S. government lists as essential for eco- nomic and national security, China is now the top producer or top supplier for 30 of those. A decades-long adversarial policy approach to American mining has turned what should be a source of strength into a strategic Achilles’ heel. Today there is bipartisan recog- nition of our minerals vulnerability. But we still need a coherent Amer- ican minerals policy to address it. Despite important pieces of indus- trial policy to level the playing field for American mining — and encour- age the reshoring of mineral supply chains — mine permit approvals remain trapped in a web of red tape. New American mines are glaringly missing. Without a commitment to streamline mine permitting and turn resource potential into produc- tion, all the incentives imaginable to reshore mineral production — be they manufacturing tax credits, loans from the Department of Energy, or grants from the Department of De- fense — will have no place to go. It’s far past time to fix our self-imposed mineral chokepoint. Smart minerals industrial poli- cy must work hand-in-hand with efforts to address mine permitting delays and get responsible mines approved. Made-in-America should mean mined-in-America, and we need coordination at the high- est levels of government — across federal agencies that share authority over minerals policy — to ensure it happens. Canada and Australia both have dedicated ministerial offices for mining. It’s past time we have a co- ordinating mining advocate as well. The stakes of our great miner- als challenge are enormous but so are the opportunities. From soaring mineral demand to China’s efforts to become a minerals OPEC of one, this moment requires urgency of action. Establishing a decisive minerals policy, and a leading U.S. office to shepherd it, cannot wait. Our energy future, economic com- petitiveness and national security all hang in the balance.
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Rich Nolan is president and CEO of the National Mining Association
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