US ‘very concerned’ about China’s hold on mineral supply chain, Granholm says

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm issued a warning Wednesday about China’s hold on the mineral supply chain, saying the U.S. is “very concerned.”

“It’s one of the pieces of the supply chain that we’re very concerned about in the United States,” Granholm told CNBC. “We do not want to be over-reliant on countries whose values we may not share.”

China makes up 60 percent of the world’s rare earth mineral production and 85 percent of its mineral processing. Minerals are needed for the production of some climate-friendly energy technologies including electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.

Mining is a sticky issue for Democrats, who have historically fought to protect people and nature from mining’s harms such as pollution and land degradation. However, those on the left have also supported the fight against climate change — which is expected to require the use of the minerals.

Granholm also told CNBC that the U.S. was in the process of updating regulations to better support “sustainable and efficient” mining.

She said the U.S. would also partner with nations such as Australia and Canada on the issue.

“We know all countries want to ensure that we have a critical stockpile of critical minerals and that we are allowed to diversify the supplies of those stockpiles,” she told CNBC in Paris, on the sidelines of the International Energy Agency’s 2024 Ministerial Meeting. “Both internationally and domestically, this is a focus of ours.”