Republicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources held a forum on Oct. 22 to discuss how President Biden's exit from Afghanistan left massive, untapped reserves of rare earth metals, lithium, and other vital minerals in the Taliban's hands, potentially opening them up to exploitation by China.
Speakers said the Biden administration has simultaneously worked to hinder key mining projects in the United States, such as Minnesota's Twin Metals copper-nickel project and Arizona's Resolution copper mine, which would allow the United States to produce many of those minerals at home, thereby avoiding dependence on the Taliban or the Chinese Communist Party.
"We know what happens next. The Taliban's neighbor to the east, China, will swoop in and shortly thereafter control all of these mineral resources. There is no doubt at our current pace, the United States will have to purchase those minerals from China for our electric cars, our windmills, our iPhones, and our solar panels."
Mary Hutzler, a distinguished fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, described the scale of the United States' dependence on Chinese mineral resources for its renewable energy infrastructure, which dwarfs our past reliance on foreign oil before the United States achieved energy independence under President Donald Trump.
China's competitive advantage in mineral processing and refinement stems in part from its reliance on cheap coal energy, which it is expected to expand, Hutzler said.
Rep. Yvette Herrell asked Felter whether Chinese-mined or -processed minerals could be expected to rely on child labor, as in the mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rep. Paul Gosar closed the forum by urging members to support his proposal, the Stopping Terrorist Mineral Trade Act, which would prevent the importation of minerals, or mineral-derived products, originating in Afghanistan.
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