Trump announces $12 billion U.S. stockpile of rare earth minerals

Washington — The U.S. is launching a $12 billion stockpile of critical and rare earth minerals for non-military civilian purposes, President Trump announced Monday, in an effort to slash reliance on Chinese rare earths and curb Beijing's leverage in trade talks. 

"Today we're announcing the creation of the U.S. strategic critical minerals reserve, the first-ever stockpile of the critical minerals that you've been hearing so much about," Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office, alongside business executives. Mr. Trump said the reserve will be "for civilian use in times of emergency." 

"Just as we have long had a strategic petroleum reserve and a stockpile of critical minerals for national defense, we're now creating this reserve for American industry so we don't have any problems," he said.

The endeavor, coined "Project Vault," would be funded by a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, along with $2 billion in private-sector financing, the president said. The minerals would be procured and stored for automakers, tech firms and other types of manufacturers. Bloomberg first reported the administration's plans. 

Mr. Trump has shown intense interest in critical and rare earth minerals, trying to boost the United States' acquisition of them and make the U.S. less reliant on other countries. According to the White House, in 2024 the U.S. was entirely reliant on imports for 12 critical minerals, and imported 50% or more of 29 others.

The president has made critical minerals a negotiation point with countries including Ukraine and Australia, and has expressed a desire to secure Greenland's critical minerals. The U.S. is continuing to navigate trade waters with China. 

Critical minerals include cobalt, graphite, silicon, copper, nickel, titanium and lithium, and are critical to supply chains for many modern products like electric vehicle batteries, semiconductors and smartphones.