[People News] The U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party released a report Wednesday (Nov. 12) stating that for decades, the CCP has attempted to manipulate global critical mineral prices and has used its control over these resources as an economic weapon to expand its manufacturing and geopolitical influence. The committee urges the United States to act immediately to address this major threat to the U.S. economy.

According to Voice of America, the investigative report—titled “Predatory Pricing: How the Chinese Communist Party Manipulates Global Mineral Prices to Maintain Its Dominance”—was jointly issued by Committee Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan, and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois.

In a press release Wednesday, Moolenaar said:“From cell phones to fighter jets, every American relies on mineral resources manipulated by the CCP for its own benefit. As we saw last month with the CCP’s monopoly over the rare-earth market, the CCP holds a gun loaded with bullets aimed at our economy, and we must act quickly.”

Moolenaar continued:“The CCP’s predatory behavior has cost Americans their jobs, forced U.S. mining companies into bankruptcy, and jeopardized our national security.”

The committee’s ranking Democrat, Krishnamoorthi, stated:“This bipartisan investigation shows that on critical minerals, the CCP simply does not play by the rules. For decades, the CCP has systematically crushed competitors and distorted the global minerals market in pursuit of dominance.”

Krishnamoorthi said the CCP’s announcement last month of new rare-earth export control measures fully demonstrates “how dangerous dependence on the CCP has become.” He called for the United States to “work with allies around the world and with stakeholders in environmental and labor rights to open a new chapter on critical minerals and rare earths.”

The 50-page investigative report reveals several key findings. It states that the CCP has provided tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to state-owned mining companies (including zero-interest loans) to support the acquisition of mining assets globally. Furthermore, the CCP has established a legal framework allowing Beijing to control mineral price reporting, enabling it to adjust prices according to national interests.

In addition, the report points out that the PRC has depressed the prices of key resources such as lithium; when global prices are low, state-subsidized Chinese companies aggressively purchase mining assets. These strategies have consolidated China’s control over global supply chains.

The report argues that the CCP’s manipulation of rare earths and other critical minerals dates back to 1992, when CCP leader Deng Xiaoping made a strategic statement on China’s rare earths:“The Middle East has oil; China has rare earths.”
The report says, “This launched the CCP’s effort to control global supply chains, weaponize them, and use them against the United States and its allies.”

The report states:“Under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government has carried out a coordinated, decades-long plan to control various critical minerals and bring global markets under its influence. The PRC’s dominance over critical minerals stems from its geostrategic view of minerals, not from treating them as typical market commodities.”

On October 9, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced new export controls on rare-earth-related technologies. The committee report says:“This move was not sudden but the culmination of decades of policies, investments, and strategies. By exerting direct control over any part of the global rare-earth value chain containing even small amounts of Chinese rare earths, the world is witnessing CCP leader Xi Jinping putting Deng Xiaoping’s vision into practice.”

The report says that the CCP’s actions—placing global supply chains in severe jeopardy—must serve as a wake-up call for the United States to act.

The report proposes a series of recommendations to counter the CCP threat, including:

• establishing a unified coordinating agency in the United States;
• accelerating permitting while maintaining safeguards;
• preventing unfair imports through temporary minimum prices;
• developing a federal price-discovery mechanism;
• creating strategic resource reserves;
• strengthening coordination among allies;
• supporting domestic magnet manufacturing and innovation;
• providing tax credits or low-cost loans for projects;
• and cultivating a U.S. workforce specializing in rare-earth production.

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