The White House continues to push their “Made in America” agenda ahead of this year's midterms. President Biden says he wants to end U.S. reliance on other countries for critical needs. However, that appears to be harder to do with countries like China. Economist Hank Lewis says that's because China controls the majority of the rare earth industry.
“Cobalt and other rare earth metals like lithium are not commonly found in the United States, but they are found in South Africa, Australia, China,” Lewis said. “So, it makes it not very feasible to make, say, a batter stack that are supposed to be used on electric cars here.”
President Biden says he wants that to change. The administration now requires federally backed infrastructure projects be outfitted with American-made materials.
However, Lewis believes creating a reliable, domestic supply chain in sectors like rare earth minerals will take years. He doubts the U.S. will ever be completely self-reliant in a global economy.
“We use ingredients from one place, we do the manufacturing in another place, we do the final assembly here because it’s more cost-effective to do so,” Lewis explained. “Trying to undo that and then put it on U.S. soil makes it difficult.”
That’s why he says making good trade deals with other countries is critical.