Safeguarding Critical Minerals Supply Chains From Authoritarian Capture

Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, tungsten, and rare earth elements are foundational to U.S. national and economic security. These minerals power vital industries including healthcare and electronics, while underpinning advanced defense systems and next-generation technologies. As global demand for minerals accelerates, control over the extraction, processing, and supply of these resources has become a central arena of strategic competition.

U.S. adversaries are investing heavily across critical minerals supply chains to secure dominant positions in global market and supply networks. China controls 60–90% of extraction and refining capacities of critical minerals worldwide. Using opaque financing and exploitative deals, these regimes lock mineral-rich countries into cycles of debt and economic dependency, leveraging their outsized economic influence for their own geopolitical gains. These tactics distort markets, crowd out high-quality investments, and erode transparency, making it more difficult for democratic actors to compete on a level playing field and for private investors to confidently commit to markets.

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) works to combat authoritarian capture of critical minerals markets and supply chains by advancing resilient, market-driven solutions. These efforts aim to strengthen critical minerals ecosystems, promote free and fair competition, attract responsible investment, and reinforce democratic institutions.

Since 2024, CIPE has worked with local partners and stakeholders across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to:

• Strengthen regulatory and investment frameworks
• Reduce market and governance vulnerabilities, as well as political risk
• Promote private sector leadership in economic reform
• Safeguard critical minerals supply chains from authoritarian capture

By operating at the nexus of democratic governance, free competition, and economic security, CIPE and its local partners help build supply chains that are secure, stable, and grounded in free market principles and practices.