McCaul: Recent Biden DPA Directive on Critical Minerals “Completely Misses the Mark”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — China Task Force Chairman Michael McCaul issued a statement on today’s directive from the Biden administration to expand the Defense Production Act (DPA) to include certain critical minerals for the “clean energy economy.”

“Our dependence on critical minerals imported from China poses a significant national and economic security threat. President Biden’s Executive Order on critical minerals completely misses the mark and does very little to address the stranglehold the Chinese Communist Party has on the global critical mineral supply chain. While the United States is blessed with many natural resources, we don’t currently have many working critical mineral mines or refining facilities. If we want to change that, we need to remove regulatory barriers to domestic mining, which includes speeding up the permitting process and investing in advancement in mineral refining. We also must combat the CCP’s malign influence in countries where critical minerals are currently being mined and processed, many of which are in Latin America and Australia with a comprehensive action plan. Meaningless PR stunts like this are more hurtful than helpful in our strategic competition with the CCP.”