Theme of the Day: Critical minerals sidestep US ‘Liberation Day’ reciprocal tariffs

Critical minerals appear to be exempt from the “reciprocal” tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump on Wed 2 Apr; however, uncertainty remains amid ongoing policy volatility. Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Wed implementing a new “reciprocal tariff” policy that will impose additional duties on imports from most global trading partners, beginning at 10%, with higher rates for specific nations.The mineral exemptions represent a strategic decision to maintain access to raw materials needed for domestic manufacturing, even as the administration seeks to rebalance global trade flows through broader import restrictions.The Energy Act of 2020 defines a “critical material” as:o   Any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Secretary of Energy determines: (i) has a high risk of supply chain disruption; and (ii) serves an essential function in one or more energy technologies, including technologies that produce, transmit, store, and conserve energy; oro   A critical mineral, as defined by the Secretary of the Interior.The Energy Act of 2020 defines a “critical mineral” as:o   Any mineral, element, substance, or material designated as critical by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the director of the US Geological Survey.The Final 2023 Critical Materials List includes the following:Critical materials for energy (“the electric eighteen”): aluminum, cobalt, copper, dysprosium, electrical steel, fluorine, gallium, iridium, lithium, magnesium, natural graphite, neodymium, nickel, platinum, praseodymium, silicon, silicon carbide and terbium.Critical minerals: The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the director of the US Geological Survey, published a 2022 final list of critical minerals that includes the following 50 minerals: Aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, cerium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, dysprosium, erbium, europium, fluorspar, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, holmium, indium, iridium, lanthanum, lithium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, neodymium, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, praseodymium, rhodium, rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, scandium, tantalum, tellurium, terbium, thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc, and zirconium.