Out of sight, out of mines
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The Biden administration is reportedly seeking to secure a nickel deal with Indonesia after endeavoring to restrict domestic nickel mining projects.
While negotiations have not advanced far, there is mutual interest in advancing a trade deal that would allow the U.S. to more easily access Indonesia’s immense reserves of nickel, which is a critical material for electric vehicles (EVs), Reuters reported on Sunday, citing anonymous officials familiar with the situation. The administration’s efforts to work with a foreign country on sourcing nickel follows its push to kill domestic mining projects in Minnesota.
“Since taking office, President Biden has chosen to rely on foreign countries with poor environmental and labor standards for the critical minerals necessary for his EV mandates,” Republican Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota, whose district would have benefitted from one of the tanked mining projects, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “These reported negotiations with Indonesia are just the latest example of Biden’s ‘anywhere but America, any worker but American’ mining policy.” (RELATED: ‘Massive Payday For China’: Biden’s Mining Strategy Is Undermining His Agenda And Helping China, Experts Say)
… Before pursuing a deal with Indonesia, the administration halted major nickel mines in Minnesota, citing concerns for their environmental impacts.
In January 2022, the administration effectively blocked two Twin Metals mines in Minnesota that would have produced key materials, including nickel. Subsequently, in June of this year, the Army Corps of Engineers rescinded a Clean Water Act permit that had been issued for the NewRange copper and nickel mine in Minnesota’s Duluth Complex.
In such a deal, the Indonesian nickel exports would be able to access federal tax credits made available by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allows for foreign products to be subsidy-eligible if they come from a friendly country that has a trade deal with the U.S. and meets other requirements, according to Reuters. The administration is seeking avenues to make sure that nickel mined in Indonesia but processed in China does not end up benefiting from IRA subsidies.
Indonesia and China jointly controlled about 50% of the world’s nickel refining capacity as of 2022, according to a report by the International Energy Administration. Chinese firms poured $3.6 billion of investment into the Indonesian nickel industry in the first half of 2022, and there have been 25 proposals to build plants to refine battery-grade lithium; of those proposals, only three do not involve any Chinese firms, according to Foreign Policy.
Because of its importance in building lithium-ion batteries, nickel is poised to play a key role in the Biden administration’s EV agenda, which features an ambitious target to have 50% of new car sales be EVs by 2030. The administration has poured billions of dollars into building up supply chains and regulated aggressively in order to help reach that goal.
Oil production shifted from the U.S. to dictatorships like Venezuela and the Middle East; U.S. cobalt and lithium mines rejected in favor of minerals mined by Congolese children; dependency on hostile foreign governments for copper and rare earths; and on and on — if enemies of our country were running things, what would they be doing differently?
