WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is weighing invoking the Defense Production Act as soon as this week to increase the US production of minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles amid high gas prices and supply-chain challenges, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
The White House is considering adding minerals such as lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt and manganese to the list of items covered by the Cold War-era national security mobilization law passed in 1950. Such materials are also used for other types of stationary batteries, which would also be targeted under the action.
The move – which would open up federal funds for mining companies that produce the materials – would be among the Biden administration’s most aggressive steps to shift the country toward electric cars and break US dependence on foreign sources of oil and gasoline.
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A presidential determination to invoke the Defense Production Act would not “bypass, supersede or expedite” the typical permitting and environmental review processes, the source said. The White House intends to work closely with the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy to implement the policy.
Funding through the law would not be loans or direct purchases for minerals, the source said, but instead funding for feasibility studies, production at existing operations or new advancements to improve productivity or safety. The White House also believes the efforts could set the stage for Congress to allocate additional funding.
The White House’s push comes after a bipartisan group of senators, including Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.V., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, called on Biden in a letter this month to invoke the Defense Production Act to accelerate the production of lithium-ion battery materials.
The senators pointed to China’s dominance in the market, noting that the US rival not only leads the world in the manufacturing of such batteries but also the processing of the minerals and raw materials required to make them.
“Allowing our foreign mineral dependence to persist is a growing threat to US national security, and we need to take every step to address it,” the senators wrote.
Bloomberg first reported on the Biden administration considering the action.
First used by President Harry Truman to increase the production of steel during the Cold War, the Defense Production Act was more recently invoked by Biden to expand COVID-19 vaccination efforts and former President Donald Trump to increase the production of face masks.
Biden signed an executive order last year setting a target for zero-emissions vehicles to account for half of all automobiles sold in the US by 2030. The president’s infrastructure law passed last year included $7.5 billion for the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations nationwide.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism