By the authority vested in me as President by the Structure and the legal guidelines of america of America, together with the Commerce Enlargement Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862) (the “Act”), it’s hereby ordered:
Part 1. Coverage. A powerful nationwide protection is determined by a sturdy economic system and value stability, a resilient manufacturing and protection industrial base, and safe home provide chains. Vital minerals, together with uncommon earth parts, within the type of processed minerals are important uncooked supplies and important manufacturing inputs required for financial and nationwide safety. Vital mineral oxides, oxalates, salts, and metals (processed essential minerals), in addition to their spinoff merchandise — the manufactured items incorporating them — are equally foundational to United States nationwide safety and protection.
However processed essential minerals and their spinoff merchandise face vital international provide chain vulnerabilities and market distortions because of reliance on a small variety of international suppliers. These vulnerabilities and distortions have led to vital United States import dependencies. The dependence of america on imports and the vulnerability of our provide chains raises the potential for dangers to nationwide safety, protection readiness, value stability, and financial prosperity and resilience.
Processed essential minerals and their spinoff merchandise are important for financial safety and resilience as a result of they underpin key industries, drive technological innovation, and help essential infrastructure important for a contemporary American economic system. They’re key constructing blocks of our manufacturing base and foundational to sectors starting from transportation and power to telecommunications and superior manufacturing. These financial sectors are, furthermore, foundational to America’s nationwide safety.
Processed essential minerals and their spinoff merchandise are important for nationwide safety as a result of they’re foundational to navy infrastructure, power infrastructure, and superior protection methods and applied sciences. They’re key constructing blocks of our protection industrial base and integral to purposes reminiscent of jet engines, missile steerage methods, superior computing, radar methods, superior optics, and safe communications tools.
America manufacturing and protection industrial bases stay depending on international sources for processed essential mineral merchandise. Many of those international sources are susceptible to severe, sustained, and long-term provide chain shocks. Ought to america lose entry to processed essential minerals from international sources, america industrial and protection manufacturing base for spinoff merchandise may face vital shortages and an incapability to fulfill demand.
Related dangers come up from a wide range of elements. First, international provide chains are vulnerable to disruption from geopolitical tensions, wars, pure disasters, pandemics, and commerce conflicts.
Second, main international international producers of processed essential minerals have engaged in widespread value manipulation, overcapacity, arbitrary export restrictions, and the exploitation of their provide chain dominance to distort world markets and thereby acquire geopolitical and financial leverage over america and different opponents that rely upon processed essential minerals to fabricate spinoff merchandise important to their financial and nationwide safety and nationwide protection. Due to this fact, the import dependence of america on processed essential minerals from international sources could pose a severe nationwide safety danger to america economic system and protection preparedness.
Third, the dangers arising from America’s import dependence on processed essential minerals additionally lengthen to spinoff merchandise which might be integral to america economic system and financial and nationwide safety.
For america to fabricate spinoff merchandise, it should have prepared entry to an inexpensive, resilient, and sustainable provide of processed essential minerals. Concurrently, a resilient and sustainable manufacturing base for spinoff merchandise is important to making a steady demand base for processed essential minerals. Each should coexist to make sure financial stability and nationwide safety.
Lastly, overreliance on a small variety of geographic areas amplifies the dangers posed by geopolitical instability and regional disruptions.
In mild of the above dangers and realities, an investigation below part 232 of the Act (part 232) is critical to find out whether or not imports of processed essential minerals and their spinoff merchandise threaten to impair nationwide safety.
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used on this order:
(a) The time period “essential minerals” means these minerals included within the “Vital Minerals Listing” printed by america Geological Survey (USGS) pursuant to part 7002(c) of the Vitality Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606) at 87 FR 10381, or any subsequent such record. The time period “essential minerals” additionally consists of uranium.
(b) The time period “uncommon earth parts” means the 17 parts recognized as uncommon earth parts by the Division of Vitality (DOE) within the April 2020 publication titled “Vital Supplies Uncommon Earths Provide Chain.” The time period additionally consists of any further parts that both the USGS or DOE determines in any subsequent official report or publication needs to be thought-about uncommon earth parts.
(c) The time period “processed essential minerals” refers to essential minerals which have undergone the actions that happen after essential mineral ore is extracted from a mine up by means of its conversion right into a metallic, metallic powder or a grasp alloy. These actions particularly happen starting from the purpose at which ores are transformed into oxide concentrates; separated into oxides; and transformed into metals, metallic powders, and grasp alloys.
(d) The time period “spinoff merchandise” consists of all items that incorporate processed essential minerals as inputs. These items embody semi-finished items (reminiscent of semiconductor wafers, anodes, and cathodes) in addition to ultimate merchandise (reminiscent of everlasting magnets, motors, electrical automobiles, batteries, smartphones, microprocessors, radar methods, wind generators and their parts, and superior optical units).
Sec. 3. Part 232 Investigation. (a) The Secretary of Commerce shall provoke an investigation below part 232 to find out the results on nationwide safety of imports of processed essential minerals and their spinoff merchandise.
(b) In conducting the investigation described in subsection (a) of this part, the Secretary of Commerce shall assess the elements set forth in 19 U.S.C. 1862(d), labeled “Home manufacturing for nationwide protection; impression of international competitors on financial welfare of home industries,” in addition to different related elements, together with:
(i) identification of United States imports of all processed essential minerals and spinoff merchandise incorporating such processed essential minerals;
(ii) the international sources by p.c and quantity of all processed essential mineral imports and spinoff product imports, the particular kinds of dangers which may be related to every supply by nation, and people supply international locations deemed to be of great danger;
(iii) an evaluation of the distortive results of the predatory financial, pricing, and market manipulation methods and practices utilized by international locations that course of essential minerals which might be exported to america, together with the distortive results on home funding and the viability of United States manufacturing, in addition to an evaluation of how such methods and practices allow such international locations to take care of their management over the essential minerals processing sector and warp United States market costs for spinoff merchandise;
(iv) an evaluation of the demand for processed essential minerals by producers of spinoff merchandise in america and globally, together with an evaluation of the extent to which such producers’ demand for processed essential minerals originates from international locations recognized below subsections (b)(ii) and (b)(iii) of this part;
(v) a overview and danger evaluation of worldwide provide chains for processed essential minerals and their spinoff merchandise;
(vi) an evaluation of the present and potential capabilities of america to course of essential minerals and their spinoff merchandise; and
(vii) the greenback worth of the present stage of imports of all processed essential minerals and spinoff merchandise by complete worth and nation of export.
(c) The Secretary of Commerce shall, per relevant regulation, proceed expeditiously in conducting the investigation as follows:
(i) Inside 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit for inside overview and remark a draft interim report back to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Protection, america Commerce Consultant, the Assistant to the President for Financial Coverage, and the Senior Counselor to the President for Commerce and Manufacturing.
(ii) Feedback to the Secretary of Commerce from the officers recognized in subsection (c)(i) of this part shall be supplied inside 15 days of submission of the draft interim report described in subsection (c)(i) of this part.
(iii) The Secretary of Commerce shall submit a ultimate report and suggestions to the President inside 180 days of the investigation’s graduation.
(d) In contemplating whether or not to make suggestions for motion or inaction pursuant to part 232(b) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1862(b)), the Secretary of Commerce shall contemplate:
(i) the imposition of tariffs in addition to different import restrictions and their applicable ranges;
(ii) safeguards to keep away from circumvention and any weakening of the part 232 measures;
(iii) insurance policies to incentivize home manufacturing, processing, and recycling; and
(iv) any further measures which may be warranted to mitigate United States nationwide safety dangers, as applicable, below the President’s authority pursuant to the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
Sec. 4. Common Provisions. (a) Nothing on this order shall be construed to impair or in any other case have an effect on:
(i) the authority granted by regulation to an govt division or company, or the top thereof; or
(ii) the capabilities of the Director of the Workplace of Administration and Price range regarding budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be applied per relevant regulation and topic to the supply of appropriations.
(c) This order isn’t meant to, and doesn’t, create any proper or profit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at regulation or in fairness by any occasion towards america, its departments, businesses, or entities, its officers, staff, or brokers, or some other particular person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE
April 15, 2025.
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