As the United States scrambles to secure the critical minerals essential for its technological, energy, and defense ambitions, one truth has become increasingly clear: we cannot do it alone. From semiconductors to electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy infrastructure to advanced weapons systems, the materials that underpin 21st-century power are too important—and too concentrated in China’s hands—to leave to market forces. What the U.S. needs is a trusted partner. Much has been written and said about the importance of close allies like Canada and Australia. But less has been said about our neighbor directly to the south; and that is a mistake.
Geologically rich, strategically located, and increasingly aligned through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico has the potential to play a vital role in strengthening the North American critical minerals supply chain. By collaborating across mining, processing, refining, and manufacturing, the U.S. and Mexico can together build a more secure and resilient industrial base.
Mexico’s Mineral Wealth: More Than Meets the Eye
Mexico already ranks among the world’s top producers of copper and zinc, two metals central to electrification and industrial modernization. It also holds significant, though underdeveloped, reserves of lithium in Sonora, antimony in Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí, and rare earth elements (REEs) in Coahuila, Sonora, Oaxaca and Chiapas. Perhaps most overlooked are uranium—largely untapped but potentially valuable as nuclear energy regains prominence in clean energy planning—and antimony, a lesser-known but essential mineral for flame retardants, semiconductors, and military-grade alloys.
Antimony in particular deserves attention. The U.S. currently imports over 80% of its antimony, largely from China and Russia. This mineral is indispensable for a range of applications including semiconductors, EV batteries, solar panels, and armor-piercing ammunition. Mexico’s known antimony reserves could be developed into a strategically vital supply source, reducing U.S. dependence on geopolitical rivals.
Lithium and Copper: Building the EV Future
Nowhere is the U.S.-Mexico opportunity more tangible than in the lithium-to-battery value chain. The massive lithium clay deposit in Sonora represents one of the largest known in the Western Hemisphere. While its development has been slowed by Mexico’s nationalization of lithium and the uncertain role of the state-owned company LitioMx, as well as the technological challenges of separating lithium from the clay deposits in Bacanora, there is still potential for a binational partnership. Mexico also has significant potential in rare earths production but development of the resource has been halted in recent years by the restrictive mining reforms approved under President Lopez Obrador.
With regulatory clarity, joint investment and technological cooperation, Mexico’s lithium has the potential to feed into the North American battery supply chain, that links raw materials, processing, cell manufacturing, and final assembly, meeting both USMCA and Inflation Reduction Act content requirements, and building on the strength of Mexico’s own auto-manufacturing.
Similarly, Mexico’s copper belt—stretching across Zacatecas, Sonora, and Chihuahua—is an underutilized asset in the regional energy transition. Copper is essential not only for EVs and renewable energy, but also for semiconductors and defense electronics.
Processing and Refining: Closing the Gap
However, America’s greatest weakness in critical minerals is not access to resources, but lack of processing and refining capacity. As U.S. demand rises, Mexico’s proximity and established mining base make it an ideal partner for new refining and midstream production capacity. China currently controls over 80% of global rare earth processing, is responsible for 48% of global antimony production and 63% of U.S. antimony imports, and dominates the supply chains for lithium chemicals, nickel sulfate, and other key materials. The United States is investing in domestic refining, but costs and permitting challenges are slowing progress.
Mexico could provide a crucial bridge. With lower production costs, skilled labor, and geographic proximity, Mexico can host midstream facilities—turning raw ores into battery-grade chemicals and magnet-ready rare earths. Industrial parks in states like Nuevo León and Baja California, with links to U.S. rail and highway networks, offer natural locations for binational supply chain clusters. Processing lithium into lithium hydroxide, separating REEs for magnets, and refining antimony into tri-oxide or alloy form could all be done in Mexico, reducing reliance on China and speeding time to market.
Mexico already refines zinc and copper in smelters in the north of the country. What’s more, U.S. Antimony recently restarted its smelter in Coahuila, bringing in feedstock from Australia to provide a more secure supply for the United States in the face of Chinese export controls. The prospects of further building out Mexico’s smelting capacity deserves serious attention in bilateral discussions.
If Mexico can also work with the U.S. to build REE processing capacity, the current Chinese stranglehold on permanent magnets could realistically be broken. The importance of this has become painfully clear in the face of recent export controls from the Chinese government.
Why This Makes Sense
Securing our supplies of critical minerals is vitally important because the United States and Mexico have built a highly integrated manufacturing platform that makes both countries more competitive. The most important sectors in that project require secure supply chains that cannot be interrupted by Chinese actions The ultimate objective is to ensure that North America can build the technologies these materials enable. That means connecting the mineral supply chain to key end-use sectors:
- Semiconductors rely on ultra-pure copper, rare earths, and antimony for wiring, lithography equipment, and thermal management systems. U.S. efforts to reshore chip fabrication would benefit from reliable inputs sourced and processed in Mexico.
- Electric Vehicles require REEs, lithium, copper, zinc, and antimony in their motors, batteries, wiring, and thermal systems. Mexican mining and processing could feed into North American gigafactories, while final assembly takes place across the border.
- Clean Energy infrastructure—especially wind turbines and solar panels—depend on rare earth magnets, copper wiring, and zinc galvanization. With shared value chains, both countries can accelerate clean energy deployment.
- Defense systems—from fighter jets to missile guidance systems—require rare earths, uranium, and antimony. A secure North American supply is a national security imperative.
- Workforce is not an insignificant factor: Mexico graduates over 130,000 engineers each year, a resource that is in short supply in the United States.
What Needs to Happen
Unlocking this potential requires coordinated action:
- An active and inclusive binational dialogue: just as Canada and the United States have created a Joint Action Plan for critical minerals, Mexico and the U.S. need to prioritize the issue through regular high level meetings, alongside private sector discussions.
- Regulatory Alignment: Streamline permitting and environmental standards across borders to attract private investment and reduce project risk.
- Public-Private Investment: Deploy U.S. development finance, Mexican public capital, and private sector funds into joint ventures for mining and refining.
- Infrastructure Development: Improve transportation, energy, and water infrastructure in Mexico’s mining regions, especially near the border.
- Workforce Development: Invest in training programs in both countries to build a skilled workforce for mineral processing and advanced manufacturing.
A Shared Vision for Secure Supply Chains and Joint Competitiveness
In the past, Mexico was viewed primarily as a source of cheap labor or raw materials. That model no longer serves either country. Today, Mexico can be a true partner in building a resilient, secure, and clean North American industrial base. From antimony to zinc, lithium to rare earths, many of the building blocks of tomorrow’s economy are buried beneath Mexican soil. More importantly, Mexico has the know-how and potential to refine and process metals to feed into the supply chains of both countries and break the Chinese grip on global supplies.
With strategic cooperation and forward-looking policy, the United States and Mexico can move beyond vulnerability and toward shared security and prosperity—co-authors of a future where supply chains are not liabilities, but the bedrock of competitiveness in North America.
Duncan Wood, PhD, is CEO of Hurst International Consulting.
