A bipartisan group of US senators is asking President Joe Biden to use the Defense Production Act to supercharge America’s battery supply chain, Kallanish reports. 

In a letter sent to the White House, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jim Risch (R-ID) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) note that the US imports more than 50% of its critical mineral supply. Moreover, it imports 100% of 17 of the 47 previously identified minerals.

“China dominates the international critical mineral supply chain, presenting a dire national security threat for the United States, and harsh economic realities for American manufacturers,” the senators say. “With demand for certain minerals expected to grow by up to 3,000% over the next two decades, our reliance on China and other, often adversarial, nations to satisfy this demand will only grow.

The act allows the federal government to prioritise materials from the private sector for national defense and includes funding and subsidy programmes. 

“The United States’ import-reliance on graphite and manganese, essential to the lithium-ion batteries required for commercial technology sectors like electric vehicles and energy storage systems, is also a hindrance for major weapons platforms and defense capabilities, from UAVs and space defense systems to our warfighters in the field,” the senators say.