China’s domination of global mining operations threatens the American way of life. Although Beijing announced a year-long delay to enacting price controls on critical minerals (CM) exports, given the severity of the threat of relying on adversaries like China, the U.S. must continue to reindustrialize and bring critical operations back home.
A new Independent Women report argues expanding domestic mining operations will bolster our economy and strengthen our national security without despoiling the environment.
The U.S. mining industry’s economic footprint is vast and expected to grow under domestic reshoring efforts. The industry employs 600,000 Americans and has a direct economic output of $85 billion, or 1.3 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The average annual salary for a typical miner is $110,000, and a single mining job can lead to 2.5 new jobs in related sectors.
Multiple strategically important new mines will become fully operational within the next three to five years due to the Trump administration’s policies.
The Brook Mine in Wyoming, an existing coal mine, is expanding its operations into REEs. The mine boasts 1.7 million tons of proven critical mineral oxide deposits on its 4,500-acre site. In July 2025, MP Minerals–the company overseeing the sole American REE mine in Mountain Pass Mine in California—announced a multibillion-dollar private-public partnership with the Department of War (DOW) to construct the new 10X Facility. By 2028, the company’s manufacturing capacity promises to reach 10,000 metric tons—the amount of REEs we import from China annually. MP Minerals also intends to expand its existing mine’s operations to extract, separate, and refine REEs in one place.
As of this writing, 29 mining projects are being fast-tracked by the Federal Permitting Council for permitting.
America’s approach to responsible mining equally proves a strong economy can also secure our nation. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controls 60 percent of global supply and processes 90 percent of REE. The U.S. currently imports 10,000 tons of REE, a subset of critical minerals, annually—or 70 percent of its supply—from China. But it wasn’t always like this.
In 1993, our country produced roughly one-third of the world’s REEs, second only to China’s 38 percent. As environmental regulations tightened and Chinese producers undercut prices through state subsidies and lower labor costs, U.S. operations shuttered. An example of this tactic occurred in 2023, when a cobalt mine in Idaho was forced to idle operations after China deliberately waited for U.S. investors to commit capital, then flooded the global market with cheap cobalt, driving prices down and undermining the project’s viability. By the early 2000s, China had captured more than 90 percent of the global market.
China’s leverage extends beyond production. It has repeatedly used export restrictions as a tool of coercion. Therefore, this level of dependence poses an undeniable national-security risk. If geopolitical tensions escalate, the United States could face serious supply disruptions, leaving manufacturers unable to meet urgent production needs. Advanced weapons systems—from F-35 fighter jets to Tomahawk missiles—rely on REE-based components. China’s near-monopoly is neither inevitable nor irreversible. The United States has the geological resources, technical know-how, and industrial capacity to reclaim a meaningful share of this market.
To supplement reshoring, the U.S. can employ an onshoring-to-friendshoring strategy that ensures our country partners allied nations to bypass China. The Trump administration has already struck deals with Ukraine and imports REEs from Estonia. President Trump secured mineral deals with Malaysia and Japan on his recent Asia trip.
By combining domestic production, strategic overseas investment, and allied cooperation, the United States can build the mineral backbone of the twenty-first century, ensuring that its economic strength, industrial capacity, and military readiness remain firmly under its own control.
Approving more U.S. mining projects won’t despoil our environment either. A highly-regulated sector, the mining industry already innovates technologies and operations to minimize its environmental footprint.
Unlike the CCP, the U.S. takes environmental stewardship seriously. U.S. mining companies adhere to at least 36 environmental regulations to operate. American mines only disturb "a tiny infinitesimal pinprick in the landscape." To receive approval, new mining facilities must develop a reclamation plan to restore affected lands after mining operations cease. Nearly three million acres of mining lands, particularly coal fields, have been successfully reclaimed since the 1980s and become prime habitat for reintroduced elk.
The Twin Metals Mine in Minnesota that could be revived by the Trump administration pledged to be “a low-carbon producer of the critical minerals needed in the fight against climate change.” And the Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho is restoring critical salmon habitat in the Salmon River where an abandoned mining pit blocks fish passage and migration along 20 miles of this river’s section.
Critical minerals, including rare earth elements, are essential to daily life, with the average American consuming three million pounds of materials, minerals, and fuels across their lifetime.
Overreliance on China here has depressed our economy, invited national security risks, and fueled environmental crises in developing nations. Now is the time to unleash the golden age of American mining.
Gabriella Hoffman is the director of Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation. Meaghan Mobbs is the director of Independent Women’s Center for American Safety and Security.
