Cortez Masto, Hagerty Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Restore American Mineral Security, Combat Communist Chinese Price Manipulation

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) introduced the Restoring American Mineral Security Act to establish a Critical Minerals Security Alliance with America's global trading partners. Foreign adversaries like China and Russia are currently flooding global markets with cheap, low-quality critical minerals, thereby artificially and unsustainably lowering the prices on these minerals to control the global marketplace. Because critical minerals are indispensable for producing modern commercial and defense technologies, adversary control of these resources poses a grave national and economic security risk to the United States and our allies.

Nations who are members in the Cortez Masto-Hagerty bill's Critical Minerals Security Alliance would be exempt from tariffs on critical minerals and on certain products made from them. The U.S. Trade Representative can nominate countries, which agree to do the following, to join the Alliance:

• Increase tariff rates for critical minerals from foreign countries and/or entities of concern to match U.S. Section 301 tariff rates on China;
• Take steps to address unfair trade practices of non-members, including:
  • Pushing back against countries who are attempting to hide the country of origin of minerals they are shipping,
  • Screening their investments into non-member nations,
  • Ensuring effective trade remedies are in place to guard against underpricing and illicit subsidization;
• Meet and participate in regular discussions and share information on their critical mineral extraction and processing capacity.

This legislation would reinvest future tariff revenue from critical mineral imports into a fund to support U.S. and allied critical mineral projects.

"Pushing back on the Communist Chinese Party's efforts to control the trade of critical minerals will require a united global front," said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. "This isn't a blue or red issue - this is a matter of national security. As the U.S. ramps up its own production of critical minerals that we need for everything from batteries to semiconductors, we cannot allow China to unfairly influence the market."

"Communist China is flooding the global marketplace with artificially cheap minerals to undercut the U.S. mining industry and gain leverage over America and our allies. The RAMS Act builds on President Trump's leadership-countering Chinese manipulation head-on and empowering the Administration to build a trusted alliance that will restore American mineral security and protect our economic and national security for generations to come," said Senator Bill Hagerty.

The bill also gives the U.S. Trade Representative the authority to review the Alliance's efforts after five years to consider whether to: expand its scope to include more products made from critical minerals; alter duty rates on foreign entities and countries of concern; or make other modifications. Admission into the Alliance and any changes to it would be subject to Congressional approval.

Read the full bill here.

Senator Cortez Masto has led efforts in Congress to strengthen our national security and supply chains. Earlier this year, the Senator called on the Trump Administration to take strategic action to protect, invest in, and strengthen America's critical mineral supply chain. She has consistently blocked burdensome taxes on mining and wrote important provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bolster Nevada's critical mineral supply chain. She's also introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen the domestic supply chain for rare-earth magnets, which are critical components of cell phones, computers, defense systems, and electric vehicles, but are almost exclusively made in China.

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