House Republicans pitching an ambitious plan to create a $2.5 billion critical minerals reserve to counter China are struggling to secure Democratic support.
It’s a complicated debate now poised to play out under an incoming Trump administration, which is already bracing for a fight with Beijing over raw materials such as graphite, lithium, cobalt and nickel.
Last week, Democrats withheld their endorsement for legislation that Republican Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia floated to establish a new presidentially appointed board that would be authorized to dole out billions of dollars worth of loans to prop up mineral projects facing an onslaught of cheap Chinese material.
WIttman, who co-chairs a Critical Mineral Policy Working Group with Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida, introduced the “Securing Essential and Critical U.S. Resources and Elements Minerals Act” alongside Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida and House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chair John Moolenaar of Michigan.
