The Trump administration is preparing to roll out a $12 billion initiative to bolster domestic stockpiles of strategic critical minerals as the United States looks to reduce its reliance on China for key components of technology that powers cars, computers and phones, according to a White House official who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the project.
The initiative will combine $1.67 billion in private funds and a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Known as Project Vault, the effort will entail gathering and storing minerals for American manufacturers. The move comes as the United States is working with increased urgency to develop its own supply chain for critical minerals after China curbed exports of its magnets last year, creating shortages for cars, robots, semiconductors, drones and other products.
Details about the structure of the loan, which was reported earlier by Bloomberg News, were not immediately available. General Motors, Stellantis, Boeing and Google are among the companies that are participating in the project, according to the White House official.
An official with the Export-Import Bank said it would release additional information later on Monday.
President Trump made the global hunt for critical minerals a priority during his first year in office, striking minerals deals with Ukraine and Australia and pursuing Greenland as the United States looks to secure its stockpiles. The deals include joint projects that would give the United States access to foreign minerals supplies. The United States has also been taking stakes in American rare earths companies as a way to compete more effectively with China.
China mines 70 percent of the world’s rare earths, and does chemical processing for 90 percent of the global supply. When the Trump administration recently hit the nation with high tariffs and more expansive technology controls, the Chinese government responded by rolling out a licensing system that would give it control over rare earths shipments even outside China.
The Trump administration last week extended up to $277 million in direct funding and up to $1.3 billion in loans to USA Rare Earth Inc., a mining and manufacturing group, to help develop its supply chain for rare earth metals and magnets. Last July, the Defense Department agreed to take a $400 million stake in MP Materials, a mining company that has struggled to turn profits amid tough price pressures from China.
The new project is intended to shield companies from price volatility of critical materials by allowing them to make purchase commitments and have access to stockpiles without having to store them independently.
Republicans have long been skeptical of the Export-Import Bank, but Mr. Trump has embraced it as a way to expand his industrial policy efforts and to compete with countries that rely on government subsidies.
Alan Rappeport is an economic policy reporter for The Times, based in Washington. He covers the Treasury Department and writes about taxes, trade and fiscal matters.
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