According to a report by Reuters on June 3 local time, U.S. President Trump plans to invoke emergency powers to exempt relevant restrictions of the U.S. Defense Production Act to help increase domestic production of critical minerals and weapons.

The U.S. Defense Production Act imposes certain limitations on presidential power, such as requiring the White House to seek congressional approval for projects exceeding $50 million and mandating project delivery within one year. The law also grants the U.S. president broad emergency powers to control domestic industries and resources in the event of a national security emergency.

A U.S. government document shows that Trump is expected to invoke this emergency power to obtain legal exemptions regarding congressional approval of large-scale projects. This document is expected to be published in the U.S. Federal Register on June 4 local time.

Mountain Pass Mine in California, USA, is the only rare earth mining operation in the country. Bloomberg News

In March this year, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to promote the production of critical minerals used in manufacturing consumer goods, computer chips, robots, and advanced weapons domestically. Former U.S. President Biden also signed similar exemption bills during the pandemic to accelerate vaccine and medical equipment production.

The report pointed out that this move represents the latest attempt by the White House to reshape the critical minerals industry, which is currently dominated by China. In response to Trump's trade war, China recently suspended exports of critical minerals, causing some disruptions to the global supply chain.

Professor Helfstom from George Washington University said that long-term investment in critical minerals in the United States is part of the solution, but it will make the U.S. more vulnerable to China's trade policies in the short term.

"This means that if the U.S. wants to obtain these minerals in the next 5 to 10 years, it must maintain trade relations with China," Helfstom said.

This article is an exclusive piece by Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7511895407175107081/

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