Senators Push $72-B Funding Deal for Critical Minerals

US senators are set to introduce legislation to reauthorize funding for the US Export-Import Bank for the next decade, as lawmakers seek to inject an additional $70 billion into an agency central to financing energy and critical minerals projects, Jenny McCall reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The effort comes as the Trump administration moves to reduce US dependence on China for rare earths and other critical minerals. (Photo: Copperbelt Katanga Mining)

Kevin Cramer, a Republican senator from North Dakota and co-sponsor of the bill alongside Democrat Mark Warner, told the Financial Times that President Donald Trump was “all in” on funding the Ex-Im Bank, adding that Trump “sees the value” of the institution.

Cramer said he would push to raise the bank’s lending cap from $135 billion to $205 billion as part of the reauthorization package.

The effort comes as the Trump administration moves to reduce US dependence on China for rare earths and other critical minerals. Ironically, the United States originally developed rare earth processing technology but sold it to China in the 1990s to generate short-term profits.