Lawmakers, industry warn U.S. lags on critical‑minerals processing; urge permitting reform, funding and traceability

At a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, lawmakers and industry witnesses said the United States risks its economic and national security because it lacks domestic processing and refining capacity for critical minerals and urged Congress to act on permitting reform, targeted funding and supply‑chain traceability.

The hearing brought industry and policy witnesses before the subcommittee to describe what several testified are choke points in the midstream — the smelting, refining and chemical conversions that turn mined ore into products manufacturers can use — and to press for coordinated federal action. Abigail Hunter, executive director of the SAFE Center for Critical Mineral Strategy, told the committee that “China possesses 65% of global lithium refining, over 70% of battery‑grade nickel and cobalt, and more than 90% of graphite and rare earths processing,” and that Beijing has used export controls and other market tools to exert leverage.

Why it matters: witnesses said extraction alone will not secure U.S. supply chains. Katie Sweeney, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the National Mining Association, said extraction and processing must scale together and criticized multi‑year permitting timelines and litigation as primary barriers to investment. Alexander Hergot, president of the Permitting Institute, argued that slow, fragmented permitting and broad judicial exposure have discouraged private capital and handed strategic advantage to foreign competitors.

Key facts presented

- Dependence and scale: Witnesses cited the U.S.…