The Energy Department announced Thursday it had selected seven critical mineral processing and battery manufacturing projects to receive a combined $500 million in federal grant funding.
The financing comes as the Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to counter China’s dominance of critical minerals supply chains, including hosting an event with mining executives attended by President Donald Trump earlier this month. That has also benefited the nascent U.S. industry that manufactures the batteries that power electric vehicles, data centers and defense technologies.
“For too long, America has depended on foreign actors for critical materials essential to modern life that underpin our economy, energy security, and national security,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “President Trump is reversing that dependence by securing our critical supply chains, unleashing American industry, and bringing critical materials production and processing back to the United States.”
Wright previously canceled several awards awarded by the Biden administration under the same program.
