WASHINGTON — Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens will introduce a bill this week urging the federal government to play a more active role in reducing U.S. reliance on China for critical minerals.

“This bill is about real results. It will lower costs and create jobs by bringing mineral production back home, supporting Michigan workers, and keeping our supply chains strong," the Birmingham congresswoman and U.S. Senate candidate said.

The package — called the Unearth America's Future Act — would direct tens of billions of dollars in federal loans, tax credits and other funds into the next decade for initiatives to boost mining and refining of essential materials for the automotive, defense, health care and telecommunications industries.

The ambitious bill is Stevens' response to growing concern that the United States is overly dependent on China to power manufacturing in key strategic sectors. Those concerns only grew stronger after the Far East nation created a potentially "dire" situation for Michigan's auto sector with export controls issued in response to President Donald Trump's trade policies.

The Trump administration has negotiated a pause on Chinese export controls on critical materials, but that pause could expire in August.

“Donald Trump has pushed an agenda that puts our economy and national security at risk. They talk tough and make headlines but their policies have only caused prices to rise, weakened our manufacturing industries, and left America more dependent on China,” Stevens said in an emailed statement.

The fourth-term lawmaker's package is structured similarly to the CHIPS and Science Act, a signature legislative achievement of former President Joe Biden. That law directed about $280 billion in government resources to spur U.S. production of semiconductors and computer chips. Stevens' bill would operate on a smaller scale and specifically target federally designated critical materials like cobalt, lithium, rare earth elements and more.

China is the leading refiner and a top miner of many of those materials, which are used in electric vehicles, batteries and other advanced technologies. The United States currently plays only a minor role in global critical minerals production, according to data compiled by the International Energy Agency.

What's in the bill

Stevens' 99-page proposal — for reference, about one-tenth the length of Republicans' tax and spending megabill enacted over the weekend — directs the U.S. Department of Commerce to issue loans and loan guarantees "to acquire, establish, or enhance facilities" related to critical material manufacturing capabilities.

The agency's loan authority would begin at $1 billion in fiscal year 2026 and rise to $10 billion in 2030. The loans would be subject to provisions that block partnerships with foreign entities of concern and encourage projects on U.S. soil, though projects outside the United States would be eligible.

The proposal also calls for the creation of a "national center" for critical material supply chains at the Commerce Department, which would serve as a hub for advancing policy recommendations and best practices, and a public-private partnership to help guide the center and loan program. Total funding for the center and the partnership would begin at $30 million next year and rise to $100 million in 2030.

The funds would eventually expire 10 years after the bill becomes law.

The bill would also establish two new tax credits for facility investments and material sales, both worth up to 25% of an entity's qualifying costs. The facility incentive (dubbed the 48F credit) requires that construction begin before the end of 2029, while the sales incentive (dubbed 45BB) phases out over four years starting in 2031.

A final section of the bill directs additional research, partnerships, workforce development initiatives and grants worth up to $150 million annually through 2030 for pilot projects using innovative new technologies. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Biden signed into law in 2021, previously allocated $100 million for that purpose but only until the end of last year.

Other efforts

Stevens is not the first Michigan lawmaker this year to sound the alarm over the United States' reliance on its chief geopolitical rival for critical materials.

U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, introduced the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act in March with U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, as a co-sponsor. The measure passed the U.S. House with bipartisan support and awaits consideration in the Senate.

"As a former automotive supply-chain executive representing the #1 manufacturing district in the nation, I know firsthand that our dependence on adversarial foreign supply-chains is a problem we can no longer ignore," James said in an April 28 statement after the bill passed. The third-term lawmaker is running for governor of Michigan.

He added: "It’s time to secure our own future by putting America First. I’m thrilled that this bill—which fully reinforces President Trump’s vision for secure supply chains—passed the House."

The bill directed the creation of a new federal working group on critical supply chains but called for no additional federal spending or loan authorizations.

Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump championed, also went after China's role in the U.S. critical mineral supply chain by adding new restrictions to existing tax credits for advanced manufacturing and clean energy production.

Advocates warned, however, that those changes did far more to increase than lessen long-term reliance on China than help.

"To vote for this bill as written is to effectively abandon the goal we all share of making the United States globally competitive in the mineral, battery, and vehicle production markets of the future," said Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, after the Republican measure passed the U.S. Senate.

He added that key tax credits and loan programs will soon be "repealed outright or phased down so rapidly that China can see the goal line from here."

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