Donald Trump expected to step up chase for critical minerals as China restricts exports

With one of his final moves to counter China, US President Joe Biden is leaving his successor a national security challenge that will likely confront the US for the foreseeable future.

Biden, whose term ends on January 20, imposed export restrictions on 24 types of chipmaking equipment and three categories of software essential for semiconductor development. Enjoying broad bipartisan support, and against a backdrop of increasingly pointed warnings about China’s military prowess, Republican criticism has been mostly in the form of demands to do more.

Beijing countered by banning exports of three key mineral commodities crucial to advanced weaponry, the first time that critical minerals export restrictions were specifically levelled against the United States.

The reaction has raised alarms in Washington, with experts expecting that Donald Trump’s administration will intensify efforts to secure a steady supply of critical minerals both at home and abroad.

As Trump’s transition team reviews many of Biden’s policies, analysts say, the incoming administration may be forced to acknowledge that without the cooperation of allies and partners, the US will be unlikely to reduce its overreliance on China on minerals that are essential for defence and advanced technologies.

And to break China’s chokehold, Trump will also have to shift his “America First” policy orientation and prioritise strategic alliances, they say.

“Mr. Trump has a certain world view when it comes to engaging with other countries, but I think at the end of the day, just the reality of the fact that it’s very difficult for the United States to be completely self-reliant in areas like this, not just on critical minerals, but just across the spectrum of technology policy that’s going to need to happen,” said Martijn Rasser, managing director of Datenna Inc, an open-source intelligence company based in the Netherlands.