Trump’s Executive Orders: A Missed Opportunity on Rare Earth Element Resilience

Highlights

• Trump’s energy policies overwhelmingly focused on fossil fuels, neglecting rare earth elements crucial for high-tech industries.
• China dominates rare earth element production and processing, controlling approximately 90% of global market share.
• Lack of strategic planning for critical materials risks undermining U.S. industrial resilience and technological innovation.

---

A review of President Trump’s executive orders reveals a glaring oversight: while energy policy features prominently, the focus remains overwhelmingly on fossil fuels (“drill baby drill”) rather than addressing the critical challenge of securing the rare earth elements (REEs) value chain. These elements are the backbone of modern high-tech industries, from electric vehicles and renewable energy systems to defense technologies and advanced computing. Despite their strategic importance, there is little in Trump’s orders to suggest a coherent strategy for reducing U.S. dependence on foreign sources of REEs,  particularly China, which dominates global production and processing at about 90% total market share thanks to the Chinese treasuring backing that nation’s rare earth complex.

This narrow energy agenda prioritizes short-term political wins over long-term economic and national security imperatives. Orders aimed at boosting domestic fossil fuel production fail to acknowledge that the future of energy—and the industries it powers—depends also on rare earth elements and critical materials, not crude oil.

By sidelining rare earths—although there is peripheral mention here and there of minerals, including his talk of buying Greenland—Trump’s policies risk leaving the U.S. even more vulnerable in the race to dominate emerging technologies, from EV batteries to 5G networks to advanced weaponry. This strategic blind spot underscores a broader failure to adapt to 21st-century industrial realities.

As the global demand for REEs accelerates, nations like China and Australia have invested heavily in mining, refining, and recycling these materials. China likely controls about 90% of rare earth element processing and value-added production.

In contrast, Trump’s administration offered no substantive measures to spur domestic production or develop alternative supply chains. Does the new administration, just like the last one, not understand the true nature of the problem, or conversely, do they have an underlying strategy not announced?  A comprehensive plan for REEs would have bolstered American industrial resilience, created high-value jobs, and strengthened the nation’s geopolitical leverage. As Rare Earth Exchanges has emphasized, the problem set involving REE means government-backed subsidization ongoing to turn around the problem. No free market solutions alone will solve the problem in the short to intermediate run.

In neglecting rare earths, Trump’s executive orders reflect a regressive approach to economic policy that prioritizes fossil fuels while ignoring the materials that will drive the future. Perhaps POTUS knows something we don’t here at Rare Earth Exchanges, and we’ll be open and pleased if we are incorrect.

This omission is a critical failure for a country that aims to lead in innovation and technology. It must be addressed to secure America’s industrial and strategic autonomy.