How To Escape Our Dependence On China

The U.S. faces a mining crisis, which is intolerable when we’re competing with China for critical minerals. We sit on some of the richest mineral deposits on Earth, yet it takes longer to open a new mine in the U.S. than almost anywhere else on the planet—29 years from discovery to production, according to a study from S&P Global.

The Trump Administration, unlike its predecessor, is deeply concerned about our dependence on China for crucial minerals. Last Friday President Trump convened a mining industry roundtable of some 200 mining industry leaders and administration officials. The purpose: to intensify efforts to secure access to important minerals and lay the foundations for a robust mining industry in the future. This meeting was the latest administration effort to deal with the crisis.

Getting a mine operating isn’t about geology or economics; it’s about process. Permitting alone eats up seven to ten years on average, and that’s before construction even begins. The core issue is duplication: A single mine can require sign-off under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, not to mention a web of state rules often administered by different federal agencies with overlapping and sometimes conflicting jurisdiction. Unlike Canada and Australia, the U.S. has no single office charged with coordinating these reviews.

Litigation compounds the problem. Even after a mine clears every permit, it can be hit with seemingly endless lawsuits. Some projects, such as Arizona’s Rosemont copper mine, have lost billions of dollars in value because of having to wait out years of court fights. No wonder investors have shied away. Over the past 15 years, exploration spending in Australia and Canada has vastly outpaced that in the U.S, despite comparable mineral reserves. It takes a fraction of the time to get a mine fully operating in those countries as it does here.

Since the inauguration, the Trump Administration has moved aggressively to cut through this inexcusable morass by using executive authority. On the first day of his second term, President Trump declared a national energy emergency. The Interior Department quickly implemented an emergency permitting track capable of approving mining and drilling projects on public lands in as little as 28 days—down from the usual one to two years, or in some cases, four years.

Additional orders have extended the push. The administration says it has signed or approved 160 minerals deals worth nearly $40 billion since January 2025.

At last Friday’s roundtable President Trump announced $3 billion in new mining and mineral-processing investments. A separate $180 million has been earmarked for workforce development, including a $100 million grant program spread across 14 mining schools. This is crucial. Roughly half the current U.S. mining workforce is expected to retire within three years. Adding to the urgency is the need to replenish weapons stockpiles that have been drawn down because of the Ukraine war and the Iran conflict.

Congressional legislation is also badly needed to permanently remove other barriers to mining ventures. Last December, the House of Representatives passed the SPEED Act. It would shrink the window to sue over a federal approval from 6 years to 150 days, remove injunctions as an available remedy, narrow which projects require full environmental review and allow agencies to reuse previous environmental studies for similar projects for twice as long as is now customary. This would make U.S. permitting timelines resemble those of Canada and Australia.

Eight months after passing the House, the bill remains stuck in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, with no companion legislation even introduced.

This is inexcusable and irresponsible.