Washington, D.C.—Responding to reports that President Biden will be signing an Executive Order to review the global supply chains for critical materials, including large capacity batteries, semiconductors and critical minerals, SAFE President and CEO Robbie Diamond made the following statement:
“The President’s reported actions cannot come a moment too soon. As we outlined in Commanding Heights for Global Transportation, this is an urgent matter for American national and energy security, and critical to our economic and transportation future. And it is ripe for bipartisan action. We have already seen how the semiconductor shortage has stifled our auto industry’s recovery and idled production across the country. America can ill-afford similar disruptions in other crucial supply chains critical to our industrial base.”
“The world is shifting away from its dependence on oil, to a connected and electric future that is currently dominated by China. We must compete with China’s considerable influence over every step of the EV supply chain if we hope to realize the strategic and economic benefits of EV leadership. So this Executive Order is a welcome step in the right direction. Increased domestic production – meaning American jobs – and closer ties with our allies, are both vital to loosening Beijing’s grip on batteries and their components as well as critical minerals, rare earths and a slew of other industries that make up the EV supply chain. It is imperative for the U.S. and our allies to have a Made Outside China 2025 Plan.”
SAFE has advanced a variety of recommendations to create a robust EV supply chain free from Chinese control in its recent Commanding Heights of Global Transportation report. These include:
- Creating a domestic rare earths processing cooperative to ensure uninterrupted supply of the minerals required for U.S. high-tech and defense system applications.
- Recycling policies for EV batteries to create a closed loop resource supply chain.
- Renewing and strengthening alliances with our economic and security partners to confront China together.
It has also called for action to secure the semiconductor supply chain—and others—in a recent op-ed.
Contact: Alex Adams | 202.461.2374 | aadams@secureenergy.org
About SAFE
SAFE enhances the nation’s energy security and supports our economic resurgence and resiliency, by advancing transformative transportation and mobility technologies and ensuring that the United States secures key aspects of the technology supply chain to achieve and maintain our strategic advantage.
In partnership with the Electrification Coalition, SAFE’s sister organization, we work with consumers, businesses, and policymakers, to launch award-winning “real-world” programs and enable the needed polices to accelerate transportation electrification around the country to reduce our Nation’s dependence on oil.
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