April 8, 2025
President Trump has introduced a 20% tariff on all Chinese imports, retained the Biden administration’s decision to increase tariffs on lithium batteries from China from 7.5% to 25%. Meanwhile, U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) are set to be imposed on imports of Chinese active anode materials used in
battery storage technology.
The U.S Geological Survey classifies 50 minerals as critical. Cobalt, lithium, manganese and nickel are used in energy storage systems and electric vehicles while copper is used in
solar panels and electrical connections, silicon in PV panels, and
graphite in lithium-ion batteries.
Consumption of minerals is rising rapidly and high level processing and refining of lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements are the key bottlenecks for the clean power industry, Tom Moerenhout, Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, told Reuters Events.
The U.S. has little cobalt and no graphite mining or processing capacity...
Meanwhile, U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) are set to be imposed on imports of Chinese active anode materials used in battery storage technology On March 20, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to mobilise industry and expand domestic mineral output to reduce the country’s reliance on China.
The Trump administration is keen to build a domestic supply chain but it takes years to build such upstream activities and a combination of Trump tariffs and anti-climate energy policies could severely hamper plans.
U.S. critical mineral suppliers have struggled to compete against low-cost facilities in China that benefit from state subsidies.
The average critical minerals’ mine takes more than 16 years from discovery to first production, according to Deutsche Bank.
But the U.S. cannot satisfy all its own needs and must build secure supply chains with overseas partners.
(20min delay)