Highlights
- The executive order aims to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign-controlled rare earth elements by fast-tracking domestic mining and mineral production.
- The order highlights significant challenges in breaking China's 90% control of rare earth processing and component manufacturing.
- The strategic initiative seeks to mobilize government agencies and leverage the Defense Production Act to secure critical mineral independence.
With an executive order (opens in a new tab) declaring immediate action on mineral production, the White House is acknowledging what Rare Earth Exchanges and industry experts have long called a national emergency—the United States' crippling dependence on foreign-controlled rare earth elements and critical minerals. Framed as a national security and economic crisis, the order aims to slash permitting timelines, open federal lands for mining, and inject capital into domestic mineral projects.
By mobilizing agencies like the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the International Development Finance Corporation, the order attempts to fast-track domestic production while leveraging the Defense Production Act (DPA) to bypass bureaucratic hurdles. This aggressive strategy is a long-overdue recognition that China's control over 90% of global rare earth processing and component manufacturing directly threatens U.S. technological and defense capabilities.
However, while the order aggressively tackles upstream mining, it falls short of addressing midstream and downstream processing, leaving critical vulnerabilities intact. President Trump’s actions will fall short if his administration does not think holistically about the critical mineral supply chain with industrial policy.
The most glaring issue is that mining alone does not secure supply chains—processing, refining, and manufacturing of end-use products like permanent magnets and batteries remain overwhelmingly dominated by China. Without a comprehensive industrial policy to build refineries, midstream processing plants, and magnet production facilities, this order risks producing raw materials requiring foreign refinement.
The executive order rightly prioritizes regulatory streamlining, but it does not outline a clear response to anticipated Chinese retaliation—Beijing has previously weaponized its control of rare earth exports, and a U.S. push for domestic mining could trigger further market manipulation, price dumping, or export restrictions from China.
Additionally, financing provisions remain vague; while the order calls for private-public capital mobilization, it lacks explicit funding commitments or incentives to ensure long-term competitiveness against China's state-subsidized rare earth industry. If the U.S. truly seeks mineral independence, this order must be followed by massive investment in midstream and downstream capabilities, proactive measures to counter China's economic leverage, and an aggressive strategy to onshore magnet production and advanced materials manufacturing—otherwise, America risks trading one dependency for another.
The Chinese counter has a massive treasury commitment backing state-owned conglomerates. In the short run, this will be hard to overcome, but POTUS has taken a start today.
A devastating impact on West Virginia’s watershed from mountain top removal mining may yield an opportunity to study, map and recover rare earth minerals from already disrupted landscapes and lives. With critical transport infrastructure already roughed in via trains and trucks which had carried coal, West Virginia has ready potential to develop rare earth element processing in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains with access to East Coast shipping.
https://wvwri.wvu.edu/divisions/critical-materials/rare-earth-recovery
The Rare Earth Extraction Facility was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to bolster domestic supplies of rare earths, reduce the environmental impact of coal-mining operations, reduce production costs and increase efficiency for processing market-ready rare earths. Additionally, the technology could create jobs, helping to revive economies that have been historically dependent on the coal industry. Researchers at the West Virginia Water Research Institute are now extracting rare earth elements from acid mine drainage at their pilot plant located in the NRCCE building at West Virginia University in Morgantown.
The pilot plant is testing the commercial feasibility of turning a regional liability into a valuable national resource. Rare earth elements are found in all electronics and right now 80 percent of REEs come from China. Developing a domestic sources from acid mine drainage will help the U.S. economy and our environment.
Potential Impacts
Erect plants on existing, acid mine drainage treatment sites
Employ existing workforce and infrastructure
Generate new revenue for coal and coal-based industries
Create financial incentives to treat abandoned mine sources of acid mine drainage
Diversify Appalachia’s economy
Restore watersheds
Produce enough rare earth elements needed for national security
Contact Paul Ziemkiewicz to learn more. 304.293.6958
Paul.Ziemkiewicz@mail.wvu.edu