America is too dependent on China for essential minerals. We must know our future

Graphite Creek in Alaska has the largest known graphite deposits in the US, yet China still dominates the supply chain for the vital mineral on which the US depends.

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For decades, Americans have thought of national security primarily in terms of military might—the planes we build, the ships we deploy, and the men and women who defend our country.

Today, national security means much more, including access to critical materials needed not only to build military systems, but also to power data centers, produce advanced technologies, and support the industries that underpin the American economy.

And on this front, the United States has allowed itself to become dangerously dependent on foreign countries—especially the People's Republic of China.

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We have seen the consequences of this type of dependence before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions in overseas supply chains caused American hospitals to look to China for masks, gloves and other basic medical equipment, which controlled their distribution. It was a stark reminder that when a country outsources the production of essential goods, it also outsources some of its security.

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The Covid crisis also exposed America's larger strategic vulnerability regarding critical minerals.

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Most Americans rarely think about graphite beyond something like lead in a pencil. However, it is an essential ingredient in rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and countless electronic devices. It is also used in defense technologies, drones, advanced manufacturing and the rapidly expanding infrastructure needed to support artificial intelligence and data centers.

China has spent decades building dominant positions in critical mineral supply chains, from mining and processing to the production of advanced materials. Recently, Beijing has indicated that it is willing to limit exports of strategically important materials as geopolitical and economic leverage. America should take this message seriously.

The resource-rich nation praised US ties amid a Washington-Beijing rivalry over vital minerals.

No major country should allow a strategic rival to control the materials it needs to boost its economy and defend itself. But despite the importance of graphite, the United States remains dependent on foreign sources, including China, for its supply.

What makes this situation especially frustrating is that America lacks natural resources, especially in the great state of Alaska.

Trump has announced massive plans for oil, gas and mineral exploration in Greenland and touted the national security benefits.

Alaska alone contains 57 of the 60 minerals that are critical to America's economic and national security. And on Alaska's Seward Peninsula lies Graphite Creek, which could become the foundation of a fully integrated domestic graphite supply chain.

Graphite Creek represents the kind of strategic American resource that should fundamentally change the conversation about US dependence on foreign resources. The US Geological Survey has recognized it as the largest known graphite deposit in the United States and one of the largest in the world, making it a national security asset.

But resource mining is only part of the solution.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions in overseas supply chains caused American hospitals to look to China for masks, gloves and other basic medical equipment, which controlled their distribution.

The US cannot simply replace foreign mines and at the same time depend on foreign processing, which again is dominated by China. A truly secure supply chain must extend from the resources on the ground through processing and into the advanced materials needed by American manufacturers.

The goal is simple: American resources, processed and produced in America, for American industry and national security.

The challenge is not what America has under its feet. The challenge is our ability - and willingness - to develop it responsibly.

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For decades, lengthy permitting processes, regulatory uncertainty, and insufficient investment in domestic processing have made it extremely difficult to bring major U.S. mining and manufacturing projects to production.

As a result, instead of producing these materials domestically under American environmental, labor, and safety standards, the United States has increasingly imported them from countries where those standards may be significantly lower.

This is neither the right environmental policy nor the right national security policy.

America has the resources, engineering expertise, labor, and private capital necessary to drastically reduce its dependence on foreign vital minerals.

What is needed now is the determination to do it.

It means responsible development of American resources. This means building the capacity to process and manufacture advanced materials here at home. This means creating predictable and efficient permitting processes without abandoning strict environmental standards.

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Washington has increasingly recognized the importance of vital minerals, and this recognition is encouraging. But knowledge must now be translated into action.

America cannot afford to spend another decade studying its dependence while other countries continue to tighten their grip on the world's supply chain of vital minerals.

We know this vulnerability exists. We know where many sources are. We have their responsible development technology.

The United States became by far the world's leading economic and military power, and our predecessors established the world's largest domestic industrial base. They understood that America's ability to produce needed materials, technologies, and infrastructure was inseparable from American power.

This principle is just as important today.

The United States should never question whether another country will sell us the materials we need to defend ourselves, power our economy, or lead the next generation of technological innovation.

Now is the time to invest in critical supply chains, starting with the nation's largest graphite mine—one of the largest in the world—located in Alaska to help secure America's future.

Victoria Coates is the Kathryn and Shelby Cullum Davis Heritage Institute's Vice President for National Security and Foreign Policy.

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