The Biden administration’s restrictive stance towards domestic mining projects is making the United States dependent on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to former Minnesota State Sen. Tom Bakk.
“We need to change the narrative on mining in this country,” Mr. Bakk told the House Ways and Means Committee on July 10. “It’s contrary to their own objectives.”
Mr. Bakk testified during a field hearing in Kimball, Minnesota. He said northeast Minnesota has the largest deposits of copper, cobalt, nickel, platinum group metals, and other products the renewable energy industry needs.
Mr. Bakk said the United States could be a net exporter of these items. The CCP’s July 3 announcement of new state controls that restrict exports of germanium and gallium, elements used in producing high-performance computer chips, shows it is willing to disrupt supply chains, he said….