To Compete With China, the US Funds Canadian Critical Mineral Mining

Commentary The U.S. and Canadian governments are funding mineral mining and processing in Canada, including through two pieces of U.S. legislation and the Critical Mineral Research, Development, and Demonstration program of Natural Resources Canada. The unusual U.S. funding of a Canadian industry, through the Defense Production Act of 1950 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, seeks to decrease reliance on China in the production and refinement of key metals used in the electric vehicle, aerospace, and defence industries. China currently produces approximately 98 percent of the world’s finished graphite and 77 percent of the finished cobalt necessary for battery anodes, for example....