Republicans in the Florida delegation recently sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demanding the development of a plan in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) growing interest and investment in the seabed mining of critical mineral resources.
“We cannot afford to cede another critical mineral resource to China,” the members wrote. “The United States, and specifically, the Department of Defense, should be engaging with allies, partners and industry to ensure that China does not seize unfettered control of deep-sea assets.”
Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Carlos Gimenez, Cory Mills, Maria Elvira Salazar, Mike Waltz and Dan Webster were among the more than two dozen signers.
“The CCP dominates 85 to 95 percent of the global supply chains for most of the world’s critical mineral resources. Additionally, the CCP controls the majority of the world’s processing capacity that converts these minerals into finished products that are vital to U.S. weapons systems. This summer, Beijing announced that it will be enacting additional restrictions on the exportation of gallium and germanium products, further demonstrating its dominance of these crucial supply chains. Gallium and germanium are metals used in the development of chips, satellite communications, spacecraft power generation, and radar systems. With 60% of the world’s germanium and 80% of the world’s gallium produced in China, this poses as a huge threat to U.S. interests and national security,” noted Webster’s office.
“The deep-sea bed is rich in mineral resources, including manganese, cobalt, copper, nickel, and rare earth elements. The deep-sea mining of these resources is regulated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an institution where the US only holds observer status. Members are calling on the Department of Defense to take action and develop a plan to further our presence in the extraction of these deep-sea mineral resources before China’s already strong presence controls the entire industry,” Webster’s office added.
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