Biden to spur domestic critical mineral production

US president invokes the Defense Production Act to expand domestic supply as administration seeks to curb reliance on imports

US president Joe Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act to incentivise the production and recovery of critical minerals used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The move adds lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and manganese to the list of items covered by the Defense Production Act, a law dating from the Korean War that allows the president to use emergency authority to expand domestic supply of certain types of products. “It is the policy of my administration that ensuring a robust, resilient, sustainable and environmentally responsible domestic industrial base to meet the requirements of the clean energy economy, such as the production of large-capacity batteries, is essential to our