Adjusting Imports of Processed Critical Minerals and Their Derivative Products Into The United States
Record date: 2026-01-20
Proclamation 11001 of January 14, 2026 Adjusting Imports of Processed Critical Minerals and Their Derivative Products Into The United States A Proclamation 1. On October 24, 2025, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effects of imports of processed critical minerals and their derivative products (PCMDPs) on the national security of the United States under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 1862 (section 232). Based on the facts considered in that investigation, which took into
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2026-01045
- Publication date
- 2026-01-20
- Citation
- 91 FR 2439
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
Proclamation 11001 of January 14, 2026 Adjusting Imports of Processed Critical Minerals and Their Derivative Products Into The United States A Proclamation 1. On October 24, 2025, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effects of imports of processed critical minerals and their derivative products (PCMDPs) on the national security of the United States under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 1862 (section 232). Based on the facts considered in that investigation, which took into account the close relation of the economic welfare of the Nation to our national security and other relevant factors, see 19 U.S.C. 1862(d) , the Secretary found and advised me of his opinion that PCMDPs are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States. 2. The Secretary found that PCMDPs are essential to the national security of the United States. PCMDPs are indispensable to almost every industry, including national defense programs and critical infrastructure. PCMDPs are embedded across defense and commercial supply chains and play an essential role in the production of advanced weapons systems, energy infrastructure, and everyday consumer goods. For example, rare earth permanent magnets—a derivative product of processed critical minerals—are used in and vital to nearly all electronics and vehicles. 3. The Secretary found that PCMDPs are essential to the United States' defense industrial base and the technological superiority and operational readiness of the military. PCMDPs are key components found throughout the defense industrial base, contributing to virtually all defense capabilities and activities. They are essential for the development and sustainment of high-performance military equipment, including fighter aircraft, munitions, armor plating, naval ships, communication networks, navigation systems, and surveillance systems. 4. The Secretary also found that processed critical minerals are essential to each of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified by National Security Memorandum 22 of April 30, 2024 (Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience). For example, the chemical sector uses critical minerals, such as lithium, fluorite, and bromine, for chemical synthesis and industrial mechanisms. The communications sector uses critical minerals, such as gallium, germanium, indium, and yttrium, in fiber optic networks and satellite systems. And the energy sector relies on critical minerals, such as cobalt, nickel, uranium, praseodymium, and terbium, for battery storage, nuclear fuel, generators, and electric vehicle motors. The Secretary determined that processed critical minerals underpin critical military and economic applications. 5. The Secretary found that the United States is too reliant on foreign sources of PCMDPs, lacks access to a sufficiently secure and reliable supply chain to PCMDPs, is experiencing unsustainable price volatility with respect to critical mineral markets, and is suffering from weakened domestic manufacturing and production capacity of PCMDPs. The Secretary found that these circumstances are a significant national security vulnerability that ( printed page 2440) could be exploited by foreign actors; weaken the industrial resilience of the United States; expose the American people to supply chain disruptions, economic instability, and strategic vulnerabilities; and jeopardize the United States' ability to meet demands for PCMDPs that are essential to its national defense and critical infrastructure. 6. As of 2024, the United States was 100 percent net-import reliant for 12 critical minerals, and 50 percent or greater net-import reliant for a further 29 critical minerals. Even where the United States has domestic mining capacity, such as for cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements, the United States lacks the domestic processing capacity to avoid downstream net-import reliance. In fact, although the United States is the second largest producer of mined, unprocessed rare earth oxides in the world, the United States' limited processing capacity still requires rare earth oxides to be exported for further refining and processing before being reimported for domestic use. As a result, the United States is too entirely reliant on imports of rare earth permanent magnets to meet commercial demand, and United States production currently meets only a fraction of defense needs. Mining a mineral domestically does not safeguard the national security of the United States if the United States remains dependent on a foreign country for the processing of that mineral. 7. In addition,
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