Trump administration pushes $12 billion strategic stockpile plan for critical minerals… "to cut reliance on China"

U.S. President Donald Trump is pursuing a $12 billion (about 16 trillion won) strategic stockpiling initiative to reduce U.S. dependence on China for rare earths and other critical minerals.

According to Bloomberg on the 2nd (KST), the Trump administration plans to launch a critical-minerals stockpiling program dubbed “Project Vault.” The initiative aims to procure and store minerals for manufacturers across industries such as autos, information technology (IT) and aerospace, combining $1.67 billion in private funding with $10 billion in loans from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank).

In particular, the stockpile is expected to cover not only rare earths and critical minerals, but also other strategic elements with high price volatility.

So far, more than 12 companies—including General Motors (GM), Stellantis, Boeing, Corning, GE Vernova and Google—have expressed interest in participating in Project Vault, while three commodity trading firms—Hartree Partners, Traxys North America and Mercuria Energy Group—will handle mineral purchases.