The United States is dangerously reliant on China for mineral and metal imports.
An abandoned mine in Guyun Village in China in December 2009, has exhausted the local deposit of heavy rare-earth elements in three years. Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare earths. The world's dependence on these substances is rising fast.
Not only does this pose a danger to our Ukrainian allies as the war drags on but it’s certainly catching the attention of China, who Secretary of State Anthony Blinken recentlyThe fighting in Ukraine—largely an artillery struggle—has exposed just how inadequate most Western nations’ stockpiling and production is in relation to the churn of a months-long fight.
The lessons learned from Ukraine—and Laplante’s remarks about the need for production capacity—come at a critical time. Congress and the Biden Administration are finally—after decades of neglect—re-embracing the need for a robust industrial policy and a strategic expansion of the nation’s manufacturing base.
From our warfighting capabilities to overlooked supply chains—including the personal protective equipment and essential medicines that were in short supply during the height of the pandemic—we’ve come to recognize that an unbalanced focus on efficiency has hollowed out key pieces of American manufacturing.
Countless supply chains are overstretched, and we’ve lost critical slack needed to ramp up production of essential goods and materials when needed. The withering of our industrial base has also created alarming reliance on supply chains controlled by our rivals or—worse yet—our adversaries.—particularly from China—is a case in point.
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