Breaking China’s Chokehold: Securing America’s Advanced Battery Supply Chains

A livestream of the conversation will begin here at 1:30pm ET on Tuesday, July 22.
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China has developed a state-led policy of weaponizing critical supply chains against rivals, raising serious economic security and national security concerns for the United States. Nowhere is this strategy more apparent than in advanced battery and critical mineral supply chains, where China controls upwards of 80% of the supply of graphite, cobalt, manganese, battery anodes, and the essential material for battery cathodes. China’s dominance of these supply chains represents a clear and present danger to the security of U.S. military supply chains and core industries, and the efficient functioning of market economies around the globe.

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have taken important steps to bolster domestic production of minerals, components, and batteries, but much more can and should be done to unlock private sector funding and innovation, support ally-shoring and allied capacity, stabilize pricing and streamline permitting. The U.S. must also develop strategies to push back against a wide range of Chinese non-market practices that it uses to establish supply chain dominance, create resource dependencies, undermine foreign rivals, concentrate economic power, and destabilize American and global economies.

There are strategies and solutions to break China’s battery chokehold that the U.S. should prioritize. In a forthcoming report, FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) examines the non-market practices driving China’s battery and critical mineral dominance, and explores policy responses that America and its allies can use to escape China’s economic gravity.

To discuss the report’s findings, join FDD’s CEFP for a panel discussion with industry experts led by Elaine Dezenski, CEFP senior director and head, with keynote remarks by Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX).

Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX)

Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) is serving his third term as the U.S. representative for Texas’ 11^th congressional district. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and is chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Rep. Pfluger served on the United States National Security Council (NSC) during President Trump’s first presidency. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he served in the military for twenty years as a decorated fighter pilot and squadron commander. Rep. Pfluger serves as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.