In 2018, the estimated value of total nonfuel mineral production in the United States was $82.2 billion, a 3% increase from the revised total of $79.7 billion in 2017. The estimated value of metals production decreased by 4% to $25.9 billion. Lower average prices and lower production of many metals contributed to the reduced value. A zinc mine reopened in New York, having last been operational in 2008. The total value of industrial minerals production was $56.3 billion, a 7% increase from that of 2017. Of this total, $25.3 billion was construction aggregates production (construction sand and gravel and crushed stone). Increased construction activity resulted in the increased prices and production of some industrial minerals, especially those used ininfrastructure, oil and gas drilling operations, and residential construction.
In March 2018, as a result of Department of Commerce findings of harm to national security under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862), additional import duties of 10% for aluminum articles from all countries of origin, except Canada and Mexico, and additional import duties of 25% for steel articles from all countries of origin, except Canada and Mexico, were implemented under Presidential Proclamations 9704 and 9705, respectively. Throughout the year, modifications and changes were made to the list of countries subject to the tariffs; for some countries, quotas were established in place of the additional duties, and exemptions for certain products were granted. Many countries responded to the increased import duties by increasing the duties for imports of aluminum and steel articles of United States origin, including European Union countries, Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey.
As of December 2018, the additional import duty for aluminum articles remained at 10% for most countries of origin and 20% for Turkey. The only countries that did not have the increased import duty for aluminum were Argentina, on which import quotas were in place, and Australia. The additional import duty for steel articles remained at 25% for most countries of origin and was 50% for Turkey. The only countries that did not have the increased import duty for steel were Argentina, Brazil, and the Republic of Korea, all of which had import quotas in place, and Australia. As a result, U.S. aluminum imports were estimated to have decreased by 11% and steel mill product imports were estimated to have decreased by 8% in 2018.
Under Section 301 (b) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) determined that acts, policies and practices of China related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation were discriminatory or unreasonable and those actions burdened or restricted United States commerce (83 FR 14906). An initial list of 818 tariff lines became subject to an additional import duty of 25% in July 2018. In response to this action, China imposed additional import duties for certain items originating in the United States. In August, the USTR imposed an additional 25% import duty on a second list of 279 tariff lines. China responded in kind and added more products of United States origin to its list of higher import duties. A third list of 5,745 full and partial tariff lines, including nonfuel mineral ores and concentrates and forms, became subject to an additional 10% import duty in late September. The duty rate for this third list was initially scheduled to increase to 25% on January 1, 2019, but that action was delayed. Most mineral commodities were subject to the Section 301 actions; however, a few commodities were removed from proposed lists, including some of those considered
critical minerals.
Executive Order 13817, A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals (EO), was issued on December 20, 2017. Pursuant to the EO, the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, and in consultation with the heads of other relevant executive departments and agencies, was tasked with developing and submitting to the Federal Register a list of minerals defined as critical minerals. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), developed the unranked list in cooperation with the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, State, Commerce, and other members of the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Critical and Strategic Mineral Supply Chains. The final list of critical minerals was published in the Federal Register on May 18, 2018 (83 FR 23295).
A critical mineral, as defined by the EO, is a mineral identified to be (i) a nonfuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic and national security of the United States, (ii) the supply chain of which is vulnerable to disruption, and (iii) that serves an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the U.S. economy or national security. Disruptions in supply may arise for any number of reasons, including natural disasters, labor strife, trade disputes, resource nationalism, conflict, and so forth. The assured supply of critical minerals and the resiliency of their supply chains are essential to the economic security and national defense of the United States.
Based on analysis and modeling using multiple factors, 35 minerals or mineral material groups were identified on the list of critical minerals. These were:
aluminum (bauxite),
antimony,
arsenic,
barite,
beryllium,
bismuth,
cesium,
chromium,
cobalt,
fluorspar,
gallium,
germanium,
graphite (natural),
hafnium,
helium,
indium,
lithium,
magnesium,
manganese,
niobium,
platinum group metals,
potash,
the rare earth elements group,
rhenium,
rubidium,
scandium,
strontium,
tantalum,
tellurium,
tin,
titanium,
tungsten,
uranium,
vanadium, and
zirconium.
One of the principle metrics used in the analysis and modeling of critical minerals was the Hirschman index (HHI). The HHI is used by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to identify highly concentrated markets where a company may control market share above an established threshold of 2,500 on a scale that ranges from 0 to 10,000. Additional tools and sources of information used to produce the list were as follows:
(i) U.S. net import reliance (NIR) statistics as published annually in the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries;
(ii) USGS Professional Paper 1802 “Critical Mineral Resources of the United States”;
(iii) U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) reports produced in support of the management of the National Defense Stockpile;
(iv) the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2018;
(v) U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) uranium statistics in the 2016 Uranium Marketing Annual Report; and
(vi) the judgment of subject matter experts.
The methodology is summarized in a USGS publication released concurrently with the posting of the draft list in the Federal Register (Fortier and others, 2018). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) generates composite leading and coincident indexes to track economic activity in the primary metals and the nonmetallic minerals industries.
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