Drew Horn, the founder, president, and CEO of GreenMet, an organization that addresses vulnerabilities in the critical mineral supply chain, warned during a Congressional hearing that the U.S. critical supply chain is heavily reliant on adversarial nations, posing a threat to U.S. national security. The hearing was held on November 30 and focused on "The Role of Federal Research in Establishing a Robust U.S. Supply Chain of Critical Minerals and Materials."
"Right now, if we don't take corrective action, the situation is dire. We are in an existential crisis right now, where two of our largest adversaries control everything that we need to conduct any sort of strategic engagement with them should it come to that, and while we hope that that won't happen, we've seen what's happened in Ukraine, we've seen some of the events in Gaza, we've seen some of the events that are building in the south Pacific," said Horn. "We simply cannot allow vital materials to be dependent upon the interests of our adversaries, who have in the past shown they will leverage that position much to their favor and to our disadvantage. We have the materials here in the United States."
Horn emphasized that there is an urgent need for the United States to boost its mining capabilities to ensure competitiveness in areas pertaining to national security against countries like China. Witness Ryan Peay from the Department of Energy, who also voiced concern over how sluggish the American mining permitting process is, tagging it as a hindrance toward expanding mineral mining capacity, supported Horn at the hearing.
Further highlighting concerns surrounding human rights violations within some critical mineral supply chains, Horn cited examples such as electric vehicle components being sourced from child slave labor operated by China. He asserted that relying on such morally reprehensible practices for meeting America's critical mineral requirements was unacceptable.
Control over critical mineral supply chains forms part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative agenda, as stated in a report by the U.S. Institute of Peace. Besides electric vehicles, these minerals also play vital roles in other technologies including smartphones and satellites.
The extent of China's dominance over global mineral supply chains has been confirmed "unquestionably," according to a memo from a House Committee on Natural Resources' February session. The memo reveals how establishing new mining projects within America would require huge upfront capital investments running into hundreds of millions of dollars and an extended period of ten years for permit processing. The refining procedure post-mining is also a costly and time-consuming endeavor.
The U.S. Geological Survey has listed 12 out of 50 critical minerals for which the United States is completely import-dependent. Additionally, at least 50% dependence on imports for another 31 minerals has been reported by Visual Capitalist. China serves as the primary import source for several crucial minerals such as arsenic, graphite, gallium, tantalum, germanium, and tungsten.
Drew Horn, besides being GreenMet's founder, president, and CEO, as stated on their official website, has also served in key roles within the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense. He was a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces and the U.S. Marine Corps.
