Trump Mulls Using Defense Powers to Fund Rare-Earth Projects
Bags of rare earth concentrates sit for transport at an MP Materials mine in Mountain Pass, California.
Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/BloombergThe Trump administration is developing a plan to use Cold War-era powers to prioritize and fund rare earth projects it deems critical to national security, people familiar with the matter said.
Officials are discussing using the Defense Production Act to tap financing, loans and other means for rare earths element-related projects, including mining, processing and other downstream technologies to bolster the US’s capability to build a domestic supply chain, the people said. A specific course of action or a timeline have yet to be finalized, the people said.