America's Mineral Diplomacy Going Global? House Passes DOMINANCE Act

Highlights

• The bipartisan DOMINANCE Act directs American diplomacy and development finance toward securing critical mineral supply chains outside China's control.
• China controls roughly 90% of global rare earth processing capacity, making refining and metallurgy the true bottleneck—not just mining.
• The legislation signals a shift from a domestic mining strategy to a broader geopolitical supply-chain strategy, treating critical minerals as instruments of statecraft.
• While the bill opens diplomatic doors, experts note it does not directly resolve permitting delays, processing bottlenecks, or workforce gaps in the rare earth sector.

The U.S. House has passed the DOMINANCE Act (opens in a new tab), a bipartisan effort to strengthen critical mineral and energy supply chains outside China's influence. The legislation reflects a deeper geopolitical shift that Rare Earth Exchanges has called Great Powers Era 2.0—a world increasingly defined by state-backed competition for strategic resources, industrial capacity, and technological advantage. Washington is recognizing that rebuilding rare earth and critical mineral resilience requires not only domestic mines and factories, but also alliances, financing, and long-term geopolitical engagement.

Fully titled Developing Overseas Mineral Investments and New Allied Networks for Critical Energies (DOMINANCE) Act, the legislation introduced by House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific Chair Young Kim (CA-40) (opens in a new tab) and Ranking Member Ami Bera (CA-06) (opens in a new tab) passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The New Great Game Isn't About Oil

The world's next resource race may not be fought over oil fields. It may be fought over rare earths, lithium, graphite, cobalt, gallium, germanium, and the minerals powering electric vehicles, AI infrastructure, advanced weapons, robotics, and modern manufacturing.

That reality was on display this week as the House passed the DOMINANCE Act with bipartisan support. The legislation seeks to align American diplomacy, development finance, and strategic partnerships to reduce dependence on Chinese-controlled critical mineral supply chains.

Great Powers Era 2.0 Arrives in Washington

For years, policymakers largely viewed critical minerals through the lens of markets and trade. Those assumptions are fading. The DOMINANCE Act reflects the emergence of Great Powers Era 2.0—a period in which nations increasingly use industrial policy, resource access, capital deployment, trade restrictions, and strategic partnerships to secure economic and national security advantages.

China spent decades building influence across critical mineral supply chains. Now the United States is responding with its own long-term geopolitical strategy.

Reading the Map Correctly

The bill correctly identifies a core challenge. China's dominance extends far beyond mining. Its true advantage lies in refining, separation, metallurgy, magnet manufacturing, workforce development, and industrial coordination. For rare earths specifically, China still controls roughly 90% of global processing capacity. The legislation acknowledges a growing reality: no single Western nation can rebuild these supply chains alone.

The Missing Pieces Beneath the Surface

Yet the bill is more strategy than solution. Diplomacy can open doors, but mines still require permitting. Refineries require capital. Magnet plants require customers. Supply chains require engineers, metallurgists, and years of execution. The legislation does not directly solve heavy rare earth shortages, processing bottlenecks, workforce gaps, or China's entrenched industrial scale.

A New Geopolitical Supply Chain Strategy

The most important signal may be political. America is moving beyond a mining strategy toward a geopolitical supply-chain strategy. In Great Powers Era 2.0, critical minerals are no longer commodities alone. They are instruments of statecraft.

For investors, that shift may prove as consequential as any new rare earth discovery.

See the full text of the bill (opens in a new tab).

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