Executive Summary
Critical minerals and materials are used in many products important to the United States economy and national security. Thus, the assured supply of critical minerals and materials and the resiliency of their supply chains are essential to the economic prosperity and national defense of the United States. Of the 35 mineral commodities identified as critical in the list published in the Federal Register by the Secretary of the Interior, the United States lacks domestic production of 14 and is more than 50 percent import-reliant for 31. This import dependence puts industrial supply chains, United States companies, and material users at significant risk.
Recognizing the critical minerals and materials challenge facing the United States, President Trump, on December 20, 2017, issued Executive Order 13817 (E.O. 13817), A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals, which identified actions to reduce our Nation’s reliance on imports, preserve our leadership in technological innovation, support job creation, and improve national security and the balance of trade. The Department of Commerce published a report required by E.O. 13817 on June 4, 2019. The report established a coordinated Federal Strategy to address critical mineral and material supply chain challenges through calls to action and specific recommendations focused on research and development, industrial supply chain development, mapping improvements, permitting, and workforce development.
To advance further action on mitigating the national critical minerals and materials challenge, on September 30, 2020, President Trump issued Executive Order 13953 (E.O. 13953), Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain from Reliance on Critical Minerals from Foreign Adversaries and Supporting the Domestic Mining and Processing Industries, which directed agencies to examine potential authorities and prepare agency-specific plans to improve the mining, processing, and manufacturing of critical minerals and materials.
To meet this Order, the Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared this strategy, which describes the objective, goals, and organizational methods DOE will employ across the entire enterprise. DOE’s crosscutting strategy for addressing critical minerals and materials is supported by three key pillars: diversifying supply, developing substitutes, and improving reuse and recycling.
The strategy has been developed with insights gleaned from current extensive internal and external coordination activities. DOE was a key agency in the development of the Federal Strategy on Critical Minerals and is the co-chair of the National Science & Technology Council (NSTC) Critical Minerals Subcommittee. In developing and executing critical minerals and materials work, DOE has regularly interacted with and across interagency partners, and coordinates work through the White House Executive Office of the National Security Presidential Memoranda (NSPM) process. In particular, DOE has forged a strong working relationship with the Departments of Defense, Interior, Commerce, and State, and has established strong international partnerships on the topic of critical minerals with Canada, Australia, the European Union, and Japan.