Daniel Hill, a research assistant at RAND, and Rebecca Lucas, a senior analyst at RAND, stated that NATO members should coordinate the production and supply of critical raw materials (CRM) such as cobalt and lithium to counter China’s dominance. They shared their statement on June 25 in a commentary on RAND’s website.
"As critical raw materials become more important, the global supply chain is beset with chokepoints and bottlenecks, as well as the possibility of coercion," said Hill and Lucas. "By aligning policy agendas across the Atlantic and widening procurement networks, NATO allies can better hope to match what China, and to a lesser extent, Russia, have spent decades building."
According to the commentary, one "pressing topic" addressed in NATO’s 75th anniversary summit was supply chain resilience and economic security, specifically related to CRMs utilized for military and defense applications. Cobalt, silicon metals, lithium, and rare earth elements are described as "fundamental building blocks" for "diverse products," including renewable energy. There are challenges to attaining these raw materials due to how "geographically limited and rare" these resources are.
China and Russia play "a key role" in global CRM supply chains, and "recent geopolitical tensions have exacerbated the problem." The commentary notes that China owns around two-thirds of cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 60 percent of global cobalt processing capability, as well as a majority of the world’s copper and nickel mines.
Aligning "policy agendas across the Atlantic and widening procurement networks" will improve the issue of China’s increasing "control of key supply chains." NATO member efforts include the U.S. "stepping up efforts to mitigate its own vulnerabilities" through managing, stockpiling, and working to reinvigorate and sustain domestic mining. Strengthening the CRM supply chain is described as "vital" to the goals set out in NATO’s Strategic Concept and Defense Production Action Plan.
The European Union (EU) website utilizes two main parameters to define CRMs: economic importance and supply risk. Critical raw materials are deemed important due to their link to industry development, production of modern technology, and clean technologies that help the environment.
Hill is a research assistant at RAND Europe on the Defense and Security research group. His research areas include defense strategy, policy, capability, and geopolitical strategic competition.
