As the 119th Congress wraps up its final sessions before the August recess, senators turned their attention Wednesday to securing U.S. access to critical minerals in Africa, an increasingly urgent priority amid global competition…"The economy, the energy transition and even the defense supply chains depend on the Chinese Communist Party. The United States relies heavily on China to refine critical minerals, even those that originate in Africa," Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said during a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy hearing…With demand for lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements expected to soar over the next decade, the United States is seeking strategic alternatives to its current dependence on China-dominated supply chains…The hearing revealed a bipartisan consensus on the need to deepen diplomatic and commercial engagement with African countries to ensure long-term access to these materials…Senators emphasized that minerals are not merely commodities, but also strategic assets tied to national security, defense readiness and industrial competitiveness. As the United States accelerates its investments in electric vehicles, grid storage and advanced manufacturing, the need for a diversified and reliable supply of critical minerals has taken on new geopolitical weight…China, by contrast, has spent the past two decades building robust, state-backed relationships with African governments, locking up long-term access to key minerals through infrastructure investments, loan diplomacy and mining concessions…"The United States is committed to making targeted investments in infrastructure to facilitate the export of minerals from Africa to global markets," Pratt said. "A prime example is the Lobito Corridor, which provides an alternative to Chinese-controlled transportation routes."

The European Union's lavish pledge to buy $750 billion of U.S. energy by 2028 risks exacerbating the bloc's already outsized dependence on American gas, just as it finds itself increasingly reliant on Chinese technology to power its energy transition…The energy crisis that followed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine taught Europe two painful lessons: don’t be heavily reliant on any single energy supplier, and true energy security means reducing reliance on fossil fuels, especially given the EU’s insufficient and dwindling domestic production….The energy crisis that followed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine taught Europe two painful lessons: don’t be heavily reliant on any single energy supplier, and true energy security means reducing reliance on fossil fuels, especially given the EU’s insufficient and dwindling domestic production…To address the latter concern, the bloc has accelerated investments in renewables, nuclear and battery storage technologies…European investment in clean energy is set to reach $494 billion in 2025, doubling from a decade ago, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency…Renewables such as solar and wind generated half of the region's electricity and around 20% of total energy consumption last year…The rapid growth in renewables comes with its own dependency risks, however, as the green energy supply chain is dominated by Chinese technology…Solar power is the fastest source of Europe’s renewable energy growth, and China supplies around 80% of the EU's solar photovoltaic panels. And it does so at an extremely low cost, which has for years impeded Europe’s efforts to expand domestic manufacturing in this area…While Europe has a strong local wind turbine industry, which accounts for about 80% of its supply chain and a robust battery manufacturing industry, China dominates the processing of critical raw materials, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, essential for storage batteries as well as the production of rare earth magnets used in wind turbines.