US President Donald Trump ordered a probe Tuesday that may result in tariffs on critical minerals, rare-earth metals and associated products such as smartphones, in an escalation of his dispute with global trade partners.
Trump has upended markets in recent weeks with his sweeping on-off levies, and this investigation could see him impose further tariffs if it shows that imports of critical minerals and their derivatives endanger US national security.
China dominates global supply chains for rare metals.
Without naming any other countries, the order says that the United States is dependent on foreign sources that “are at risk of serious, sustained, and long-term supply chain shocks.”
It states that this dependence “raises the potential for risks to national security, defense readiness, price stability, and economic prosperity and resilience.”
The imports targeted include so-called critical minerals like cobalt, lithium and nickel, rare-earth elements, as well as products that partly require these resources, such as electric vehicles and batteries.বিস্তারিত