(A News and Sentinel Op-Ed - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Modern economies and modern militaries run on minerals. The artificial intelligence revolution depends on silicon chips, which require quartz. Tanks need steel, which requires iron. Every vehicle in America requires a starter battery, and every starter battery uses antimony.

As America’s policymakers finally begin to recognize the national security importance of critical minerals, they face a difficult math problem: Even a miraculous turnaround in mining in America and among our allies would not be enough to de-risk us from China. Therefore, America must not only mine but also invest in innovation that enables us to reuse minerals in America, such as recycling starter batteries to get the most out of their minerals.

Today, China controls 70% of the world’s rare earth elements production, including 66% of the world’s lithium, 75% of the world’s cobalt, and 50% of the world’s antimony. Worse yet, China is even more dominant in the world’s mineral processing capacity. This gives China enormous leverage over other countries–and its leaders know this. Shortly after President Trump’s re-election, China banned the export of antimony to the United States. Far more than a shot across the bow, this was likely a bold preview of future actions.

Against this reality, it is increasingly urgent that the Trump Administration provide strong economic and policy leadership to develop and secure domestic supply chains for critical industries and products. Securing our vitally important battery supply chain from end to end is absolutely necessary to ensure that China can never hold our economy hostage.

Since assuming office, President Trump has taken bold moves to counteract China’s mineral imperialism. Take, for example, his April executive order to increase domestic mining, and his efforts to further economic partnership opportunities with Ukraine and Greenland, which host significant deposits of critical minerals. He has been so energetic that CNN even criticized the President for being “obsessed” with critical minerals. In fact, President Trump is right to act quickly and aggressively to face down an urgent Chinese threat to our economy and our national security.

China’s antimony export ban, for example, has already raised the cost of vehicle batteries in America. We can replace the supply lost from China’s export ban for now, but not easily, quickly, or inexpensively. The antimony ban is also a possible step toward China flooding our battery market, harming or eliminating domestic manufacturers, and possibly even spying on our energy industry via embedded intelligence devices. America must never depend on China for something as fundamental as starter batteries.

The Administration has set a goal for America to achieve not just energy independence but energy dominance. But energy dominance requires battery dominance — and battery dominance is not possible without raw minerals and mineral processing capacity.

Creating this domestic supply system for batteries will, in the very near term, require the U.S. to assemble a confederation that includes, for example, Australia (iron), Chile (lithium), Congo (cobalt, copper), Indonesia (copper), and several South American countries. In parallel, we will need to expand the mining of battery minerals in the U.S. and build factories to process them, which today do not exist. That will require policy guidance and incentives, as well as sound regulatory streamlining.

The third leg of this stool is ensuring that the U.S. maintains and expands its decades-long ability to rebuild batteries and keep their vital components in circulation. Remanufacturing captures key minerals and materials in usable form, reducing the overall need for raw minerals and processing.

American manufacturers are currently able to reuse 99% of the materials in spent starter batteries and turn them into new batteries, reducing our dependence on China. This system is supported by a vital federal tax credit known as 45X, and Congress must ensure that this credit remains fully in place until we have a secure battery supply chain from mining to manufacturing and beyond.

The United States has a vastly superior military to China’s, but this will be of little help in a conflict if China controls the battery materials we need to fire up our transport vehicles, planes, helicopters, tanks, and weapons systems. A key part of energy dominance is enhancing and protecting our battery manufacturing capability by securing our critical mineral supply chain, surging our mineral processing capacity, and maintaining our ability to recycle starter batteries. As Commander in Chief, the president must continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that vital supply lines are in American hands.

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William “Bill” Crane is a former adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard.