Bipartisan Investigation Reveals How the CCP Manipulates the Critical Minerals Market

Today, Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the Select Committee on China released Predatory Pricing: How the Chinese Communist Party Manipulates Global Mineral Prices to Maintain Its Dominance, a new bipartisan investigation examining how the CCP manipulates the critical minerals markets to further its global authoritarian ambitions.

"From cell phones to fighter jets, every American is dependent on minerals that China manipulates for its own selfish interests. As we saw last month with its rule on rare earths, China has a loaded gun that is pointed at our economy, and we must act quickly. China’s predatory practices have caused American job losses, driven American miners out of business, and jeopardized national security. This new investigation reveals China’s playbook and makes crucial recommendations for how we can secure our future for generations to come," said Moolenaar.

“This bipartisan investigation shows that the CCP simply does not play by the rules on critical minerals. For decades, the CCP has systematically undercut competitors and distorted the global minerals markets to achieve dominance. Last month, with the announcement of its new rare earths export control regime, the CCP showed just how dangerous our dependence has become. Working with our allies around the world and environmental and labor rights stakeholders, America must usher in a new chapter when it comes to critical minerals and rare earths," said Krishnamoorthi.

"Critical minerals are vital inputs for countless industries, including defense, energy, and healthcare," said Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA), the co-leader of the Select Committee's Critical Minerals Policy Working Group last Congress. “Establishing a strategic reserve, as recommended in this new report, is essential to strengthening America’s supply chain and ensuring national security. China’s monopolization of critical minerals has threatened our competitiveness and the resilience of the defense industrial base. It is time to put an end to this dependence and put the U.S. at the forefront of global innovation.”

The investigation reveals several key findings, including:

• The People's Republic of China (PRC) government subsidizes its state mining companies with tens of billions of dollars including zero-interest-rate loans to support its global acquisition of mining assets.
• The PRC has established a legal framework governing mineral price reporting, giving Beijing the ability to raise and lower prices to favor its national security interests.
• The PRC pushed down the price of critical minerals, including lithium—an important element used in everyday items.
• When the prices were low, the PRC subsidized its firms to aggressively acquire mining assets and cement its control over the global supply chain.

Deng Xiaoping captured PRC’s strategic view of rare earths in 1992, saying, “There is oil in the Middle East, there is rare earth in China.” This began the CCP's efforts to control global supply chains, weaponize them, and then deploy them against the United States and its allies.

"The PRC government, under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has engaged in a coordinated, decades-long scheme to control different critical minerals and bend the global market to their will. The PRC's domination of critical minerals stems from its view of minerals in geostrategic terms, not as typical market commodities," the investigation states.

"On October 9, 2025, the PRC Ministry of Commerce issued a global export licensing regime for rare earth items," the investigation continues. "That step didn’t happen overnight — it was the culmination of policies, investments, and maneuvers built over decades. By asserting direct control over the entire rare-earth value chain anywhere in the world that contains even a small amount of PRC rare earths, the world bore witness to Xi Jinping, the PRC’s paramount leader, actualizing Deng’s vision and putting those words into action. In turn, the CCP’s decision to place global supply chains in grave peril must serve as our own American call to action."

The investigation concludes with several policy recommendations, including:

• Aligning critical mineral financing and industrial-base programs under a single coordinating authority, such as a “Critical Minerals Czar.”
• Bolstering U.S. mining and recovery efforts and discussing how to expedite permitting timelines while maintaining important safeguards.
• Preventing unfairly priced imports from undermining American industries by exploring temporary minimum price levels.
• Developing federal-level tools for price discovery and production cost benchmarking.
• Establishing a Strategic Resources Reserve (SRR) that would enable private market-makers and serve as a federal counterparty for offtake contracts.
• Strengthening coordination among allies on critical minerals and mineral recovery and recycling efforts.
• Supporting domestic magnet manufacturing and innovation.
• Creating a critical minerals tax credit and supporting low-cost loans for critical minerals projects.
• Developing an American rare earths workforce, including by creating a National Center for Rare Earths excellence.

Read the full investigation here.