Author: Cai Cuihong, Yin Jiahui
Abstract: The reconfiguration of critical mineral supply chains has emerged as a central policy instrument in the United States' efforts to revitalize domestic manufacturing, enhance national security, and manage intensifying strategic competition with China. While these objectives command bipartisan support, the governance of critical minerals is deeply embedded in broader policy domains-including environmental regulation, security strategy, and foreign policy-producing distinct policy trajectories under different administrations. This article argues that divergences between the Biden and Trump administrations in these intersecting domains have translated into contrasting policy agendas, strategic priorities, and modes of international cooperation in the critical minerals sector. Since the onset of Trump's second term, his administration has explicitly framed critical minerals as a foundation of “energy dominance,” advancing a comprehensive policy reorientation through domestic regulatory adjustments as well as bilateral and multilateral initiatives. These policy shifts are likely to exacerbate instability in global critical mineral supply chains, accelerate geopolitical alignment and fragmentation, and intensify technological competition. At the same time, the effectiveness of this reconfiguration is constrained by structural factors, including limitations in the U.S. industrial base, high extraction and processing costs, and resistance from international partners, suggesting that the transformative potential of these policies will remain bounded.
Keywords: U.S. Economy; Industrial Policy; Critical Minerals; Trump Administration; Sino-U.S. Strategic Competition
Journal: The Chinese Journal of American Studies, (1).
Publish date：2026/2/9
