Critical-Mineral Diplomacy Needs to Focus on Supply, Not Demand

President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act calls for at least 50% of an electric vehicle’s battery to be made in the U.S. to qualify for a federal discount. WSJ’s George Downs breaks down a battery to explain why that’s going to be a challenge. Illustration: George Downs

By Stephen Wilmot

March 13, 2023 6:29 am ET

Diplomacy has a role to play in creating non-Chinese supply chains for renewable energy—but not this kind of diplomacy.

Politicians are talking a lot about critical minerals: metals, such as lithium and rare earths, that today are turned into valuable manufacturing inputs mainly in China, and that in the future will be needed in much greater quantities for things like electric vehicles and wind turbines. On Friday, the subject played a starring role in a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. This week, the European Union will launch a Critical Raw Materials Act to improve its green-energy security.