U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on all U.S. critical minerals imports, a major escalation in his dispute with global trade partners and an attempt to pressure industry leader China…The order lays bare what manufacturers, industry consultants, academics and others have long warned Washington about: that the U.S. is overly reliant on Beijing and others for processed versions of the minerals that power its entire economy…U.S. dependency on minerals imports "raises the potential for risks to national security, defense readiness, price stability, and economic prosperity and resilience," Trump said in the order…The review will assess U.S. vulnerabilities for the processing of all critical minerals - including cobalt, nickel and the 17 rare earths, as well as uranium - how foreign actors could be distorting markets, and what steps could be taken to boost domestic supply and recycling, according to the order…The U.S. currently extracts and processes scant amounts of lithium, has only one nickel mine but no nickel smelter, and has no cobalt mine or refinery…The probe may create an opportunity for some friendly supplier nations angling for exemptions, given Washington has previously flagged potential tariff carve outs for energy and other minerals that are not available domestically…Still, it takes years to build a new mine and processing facility, which has sparked concern about where the U.S. could procure minerals were tariffs broadly imposed…The restrictions from China were seen as the latest demonstration of the country's ability to weaponize its dominance over the mining and processing of critical minerals after it put outright bans on the export of three other metals last year to the U.S. and imposed export controls on others…Chinese mining companies across the globe have been flooding markets with cheap supplies of critical minerals like rare earths in recent years, fueling calls from industry and investors for Washington to support U.S. projects.

Donald Trump has threatened to apply tariffs on critical minerals in a move that could increase tensions with China and open a new front in a global trade war that has rattled markets. In an executive order on Tuesday, the US president ordered the commerce department to study the critical mineral supply chains and come up with ways to boost American production while cutting reliance on imports. The investigation could lead to new tariffs being imposed…“President Trump recognizes that an overreliance on foreign critical minerals and their derivative products could jeopardize US defense capabilities, infrastructure development, and technological innovation,” the order read. The investigation threatens to trigger a new critical minerals trade war as the US tries to wrestle back control of a crucial industry that is dominated by China…The Trump administration is following on from initiatives started during the Biden administration to reduce American reliance on adversaries for minerals and metals that are used in everything from electric car batteries to jet engines to missiles…The executive order said any resulting tariffs would replace any “reciprocal” tariff rates placed on these critical minerals, which could in theory lead to tariffs on those minerals being lowered instead of raised.