defense production act critical minerals

(Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)Īnd in times of war, he said, industrialized nations that lack secure and reliable access to these materials have suffered mightily: ' have suffered significant performance tradeoffs, which contributed to their defeat.' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, speaks with a worker during a tour of Motrec International, a heavy-duty electric vehicle production facility in Sherbrooke, Que., in July. This whirlwind of activity was prompted by a White House study last year warning that dependence on certain foreign-made products represents a national security risk to the U.S., and it cited semiconductors, batteries, medicines and 53 types of minerals. President Joe Biden invoked the 1950 Defense Production Act to expand the domestic mining sector, and the military received hundreds of millions of dollars to implement it. The American military has a new pot of money at its disposal to help private companies inaugurate new mining projects it's for funding feasibility studies, plant renovations, battery-recycling and worker training. is now considering moving public funding in. Ottawa just pushed Chinese state-owned companies out of the sector, and the U.S. It illustrates how Canadian mining is becoming the nexus of a colossal geopolitical struggle. government: lessening dependence on China for critical minerals that are vital in everything from civilian goods such as electronics, cars and batteries, to weapons. It's part of an increasingly urgent priority of the U.S.

The total amount available to states in Fiscal Year 2022 under the NEVI Formula Program is $615 million.The United States military has been quietly soliciting applications for Canadian mining projects that want American public funding through a major national security initiative. The program will provide nearly $5 billion over five years to help states create a network of EV charging stations along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors, particularly along the Interstate Highway System. This plan comes a month after The US Departments of Transportation and Energy announced nearly $5 billion that will be made available under the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to build out a national electric vehicle charging network.

In addition to EV batteries, the directive also would apply to large-capacity batteries. Rather than loans or direct purchases for minerals, the directive would fund production at current operations, productivity, and safety upgrades, as well as feasibility studies. To that end, adding vital minerals like lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt and manganese to the list could help mining companies access $750 million under the Defense Production Act’s Title III fund. The company previously announced an electric version of its popular F-150 pickup truck called the Lightning. In addition, a new assembly plant in Tennessee will build electric pickup trucks. Ford is investing over $4 billion, to build two battery plants in Kentucky and one in Tennessee. This builds on recent announcements from companies like GM, Ford, and Siemens to invest in America again and create jobs. The White House is discussing adding battery materials to the list of items covered by the 1950 Defense Production Act to encourage domestic production of critical minerals for electric vehicles and other types of batteries.Įarlier, President Biden released a statement acknowledging that the electric vehicle maker VinFast will build an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in North Carolina, at a cost of $4 billion to create more than 7,000 jobs and hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles and batteries.

Defense production act critical minerals