President Biden Invokes Defense Production Act to Help Issues Related to EV Battery Materials

President Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act as a means to increase mineral production that is used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries. The document titled “Memorandum on Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950” seen here, seeks to:

“To promote the national defense, the United States must secure a reliable and sustainable supply of such strategic and critical materials.  The United States shall, to the extent consistent with the promotion of the national defense, secure the supply of such materials through environmentally responsible domestic mining and processing; recycling and reuse; and recovery from unconventional and secondary sources, such as mine waste.” 

As the world transitions to clean energy, the minerals targeted by this Order will be lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese for large capacity batteries. 

The transition to clean energy is being felt now. With soaring energy prices due to the war in Ukraine we foresee plenty of change happening with supply chain security. 

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