“A bill to provide for the establishment of a Critical Minerals Security Alliance, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) a reliable supply chain of critical minerals is essential to meet U.S. defense, manufacturing, and energy needs; (2) as of enactment, the United States is heavily dependent on China for production and processing of key critical minerals; (3) China has weaponized its dominance, created overcapacity, and sold products below market rates to gain market share; (4) the United States must use trade tools against such practices, most effectively in coordination with trading partners; and (5) alliances of trusted partners can combat China's oversupply and market manipulation while promoting U.S. critical minerals production.
This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including (1) appropriate congressional committees as the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means; (2) critical mineral as any mineral on the list required by section 7002(c)(3) of the Energy Act of 2020 as of January 1, 2026, or added thereafter; (3) derivative product as a good incorporating a critical mineral (i.e., semi-finished goods such as a semiconductor wafer, anode, or cathode; final products such as a permanent magnet, motor, electric vehicle, battery, smartphone, microprocessor, radar system, wind turbine or component, or advanced optical device); (4) foreign country of concern as defined in section 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and including Venezuela; (5) foreign entity of concern as an entity organized under the laws of, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, a foreign country of concern; (6) processed, with respect to a critical mineral, as the activities after ore extraction from a mine through conversion into a metal, metal powder, or master alloy; (7) select derivative product as a permanent magnet, lithium-ion battery for an electric vehicle, lithium-ion battery for a non-electric vehicle, or part for a non-lithium-ion battery; and (8) Trade Representative as the United States Trade Representative.
This section authorizes the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), in consultation with the Secretaries of Commerce, Treasury, and State, to negotiate agreements with eligible countries to establish the Critical Minerals Security Alliance for a reliable supply chain covering not less than 90% of critical minerals listed under section 7002(c)(1) of the Energy Act of 2020 (i.e., minerals essential to energy technologies, manufacturing, and national security) and 100% of select derivative products. Eligibility requires countries to (1) increase duties on mined and processed critical minerals and select derivative products from foreign countries of concern (e.g., China) to at least the U.S. section 301 rates in effect on January 1, 2026; (2) participate in regular Alliance meetings; (3) review and share domestic extraction/processing capacity; (4) eliminate duties on such imports from other Alliance members (except antidumping and countervailing duties); and (5) adopt complementary measures against non-members' unfair trade practices, such as preventing transshipment, investment screening, and trade remedies. USTR must engage U.S. trading partners to meet these criteria and may allow duty increases to phase in over not more than 5 years or equivalent measures (e.g., prohibitions or quotas). Upon certifying a country's eligibility to congressional committees, an agreement enters into force if a joint resolution of approval is enacted or 90 days elapse without a joint resolution of disapproval. Such agreements grant duty-free U.S. entry to the country's mined and processed critical minerals and select derivative products, exempt from section 301 (Trade Act of 1974) and section 232 (Trade Expansion Act of 1962, i.e., national security) duties on or after entry into force. Modifications follow a similar 90-day congressional review process.
This section imposes duties on imports of mined and processed critical minerals and select derivative products sourced from a foreign country of concern or foreign entity of concern at the rate applicable to such products sourced from the People's Republic of China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411) as of January 1, 2026. The duties take effect upon entry into force of the first agreement admitting a country to the Alliance under section 4. (As background, Section 301 authorizes the U.S. Trade Representative to impose tariffs and other measures against foreign acts, policies, or practices that deny U.S. rights under trade agreements or unjustifiably burden U.S. commerce.)
This section establishes a trust fund in the Treasury of the United States to support critical mineral mining, processing, and related manufacturing projects. The trust fund consists of (1) transfers from the general fund equivalent to duties collected on mined and processed critical minerals imported into the United States, beginning in the first fiscal year a country is admitted to the Critical Minerals Security Alliance under section 4 and quarterly each fiscal year thereafter while the Alliance remains in effect; and (2) interest and proceeds from investing excess amounts in U.S. obligations. Amounts in the trust fund are available without further appropriation as follows: (1) 60% to the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (i.e., supports loans, loan guarantees, and other financing for innovative energy projects, including critical minerals); (2) 20% to the Department of Defense; and (3) 20% to the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for international critical mineral projects in Alliance member countries. (Thus, recipients may seek support from both DOE and DOD for the same project.) For DFC support under this section, this section excepts projects from restrictions under section 1412(c)(2) of the BUILD Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9612(c)(2)), allowing support in upper-middle-income and high-income economies (as defined by the World Bank) subject to presidential certification to congressional committees that the support furthers U.S. national economic or foreign policy interests, produces significant developmental benefits or counters strategic competitors, and either involves a U.S. entity or offers at least 50% of project-produced critical minerals first to the Department of Defense and U.S. entities.