On April 15, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) directing the Department of Commerce (Commerce) to initiate an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to determine the effects on national security of imports of processed critical minerals and their derivative products. Because “processed critical minerals and their derivative products face significant global supply chain vulnerabilities and market distortions due to reliance on a small number of foreign suppliers”, President Trump stated, “the dependence of the United States on imports and the vulnerability of our supply chains raises the potential for risks to national security, defense readiness, price stability, and economic prosperity and resilience.”
The EO defines the term “critical minerals” as those minerals included in the “Critical Minerals List” published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which also includes uranium. The term “rare earth elements” means the 17 elements identified as rare earth elements by the Department of Energy (DOE) in the April 2020 publication, “Critical Materials Rare Earths Supply Chain.” The EO also defines the scope of the terms “processed critical minerals” and “derivative products.”
According to the EO, Commerce must assess: (i) U.S. imports of all processed critical minerals and derivative products incorporating such processed critical minerals; (ii) the foreign sources by percent and volume of all processed critical mineral imports and derivative product imports, the specific types of risks that may be associated with each source by country, and those source countries deemed to be of significant risk; (iii) the distortive effects of the predatory economic, pricing, and market manipulation strategies and practices used by countries that process critical minerals exported to the United States, including the distortive effects on domestic investment and the viability of U.S. production, as well as how such strategies and practices permit such countries to maintain their control over the critical minerals processing sector and distort U.S. market prices for derivative products; (iv) the demand for processed critical minerals by manufacturers of derivative products in the United States and globally, including the extent to which such manufacturers’ demand for processed critical minerals originates from certain countries; (v) global supply chains for processed critical minerals and their derivative products; (vi) the current and potential capabilities of the United States to process critical minerals and their derivative products; and (vii) the dollar value of the current level of imports of all processed critical minerals and derivative products by total value and country of export.
Within 90 days, Commerce must submit a draft interim report, with a final report and recommendations to be submitted to President Trump within 180 days. The Secretary of Commerce must consider the following recommendations: (i) the imposition of tariffs; (ii) safeguard measures to avoid circumvention; (iii) policies to incentivize domestic production; and (iv) any additional measures that may be warranted to mitigate U.S. national security risks. Should President Trump decide to impose tariffs, a White House Fact Sheet notes, “any resulting tariff rate imposed under Section 232 would take the place of the current reciprocal tariff rate,” implemented under President Trump’s April 2, 2025 EO.