President Joe Biden's push for a transition to electric vehicles may be slowed by Republican efforts to prevent the import of minerals that are central to electric battery construction.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) introduced a bill on June 30 that would ban imported products from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country is the world's largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium ion in EV batteries and a key element of Biden's climate and green energy policies.
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However, Smith argues the country uses forced labor, and importing these materials benefits China, the U.S.'s major global competitor. Beijing controls the majority of the cobalt mines in Congo, according to the Associated Press.
"On the backs of trafficked workers and child laborers, the Chinese Communist Party is exploiting the vast cobalt resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo to fuel its economy and global agenda,” Smith said in a news release. “The United States must stop aiding and abetting Communist China’s egregious exploitation of children — some as young as 6 years old — and start becoming less dependent on Xi Jinping’s brutal dictatorship."
Smith's legislation would prohibit importing “goods, wares, articles, or merchandise containing metals or minerals, in particular cobalt and lithium and their derivatives, mined, produced, smelted or processed, wholly or in part, by child labor or forced labor in the DRC,” Smith’s office said.
The president would also be required to identify and impose sanctions, including transaction and visa prohibitions, on foreign entities that exploit child labor in Congo, per the legislation.
If the bill were to pass, this would deal a major blow to Biden's electric vehicle plans. Last week, the Biden administration said it intended to provide $2 billion in grants to help fast-track the transition to electric vehicles.
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Without the key mineral to build the batteries, Biden will be left with fewer ways to secure cobalt, as Congo controls nearly 70% of the mineral's output.
The president also faced a similar roadblock in March after an Australian mining company that was expected to open the U.S.'s only cobalt mine in Idaho halted construction. The U.S. Department of Defense awarded Jervois Global $15 million for drilling and a study of a cobalt refinery, but the company backed out, citing falling cobalt prices due to competition from China and Congo.
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