President Donald Trump has signed a presidential determination granting the U.S. Commerce Department authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to restrict exports of industrial waste containing recoverable critical minerals and materials (CMMs).
The executive measure targets end-of-life products—including spent lithium-ion batteries and permanent magnets, that hold significant reclaimable volumes of vital strategic elements. By invoking Cold War-era DPA powers, the White House aims to prevent secondary scrap feedstock from leaving the country, bolstering domestic processing capacity and curbing reliance on foreign supply chains, particularly China.
Rather than relying solely on greenfield mining projects with extended lead times, the policy effectively establishes domestic industrial scrap as an immediately accessible strategic reserve. The move is expected to support U.S. recycling infrastructure, secure essential raw materials for defense manufacturing and high-tech sectors, and keep critical processing value added within American borders.
