U.S. Expands Critical Minerals Financing and Bilateral Partnerships Under Trump

The United States has increasingly recognized the role of critical minerals and rare earth elements in national security, economic resilience and defense preparedness. As the United States seeks to strengthen its economic and national security, including by reducing exposure to China’s dominant position in the critical minerals sector, federal investment in domestic mining, processing and manufacturing of such materials has become a central policy priority. Since January 2025, the Trump administration has focused on deploying federal funding tools, accelerating permitting and establishing bilateral partnerships to strengthen supply chains and reduce reliance on foreign sources. The result is a significant expansion of U.S. financing activity at home and abroad, led by the Departments of War, Commerce and Energy, as well as the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM).

Key Domestic Financing Actions

Congress provided the Department of War (DOW) with substantial resources through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), signed into law on July 4, 2025. Section 20004 appropriated $2 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2025 to expand the National Defense Stockpile (NDSTF) through purchases of critical minerals. The law also provides $5 billion to the Industrial Base Fund (IBF) to support critical minerals supply chains, while confirming that the Department of War may take equity positions in companies through these funds. An additional $500 million was directed to the Department of Defense Credit Program Account under the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) to provide loans, loan guarantees and technical assistance to critical mineral industries. Finally, the law includes $1 billion for Defense Production Act (DPA) financing through September 2027.

The DPA remains a central tool for strengthening domestic production. The March 2025 executive order “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” (EO 14241) expanded DPA authorities by reducing approval and notification requirements and directing DOW and the DFC to create a joint mineral investment fund. The EO delegated to DFC several authorities traditionally reserved for the president and instructed the secretary of defense to prioritize mineral production through the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program.

The administration quickly leveraged these new funds and authorities to support domestic projects. On July 10, 2025, DOW executed a $400 million equity investment in MP Materials and issued a $150 million OSC loan to support heavy rare earth separation capacity in California. The Pentagon also established a price floor of $110 per kilogram for neodymium-praseodymium oxide, with DOW entitled to 30% of upside revenue when the company’s second magnet facility becomes operational. According to public filings, the investment also used DPA Title III authorities to finance the project.

In October 2025, DOW invested $35.6 million through OSC and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD (A&S)) to acquire a 10% stake in Trilogy Metals and support development of the Upper Kobuk Minerals Projects in Alaska. Furthermore, on Nov. 3, 2025, the administration announced a $1.4 billion public-private partnership with Vulcan Elements and ReElement Technologies that includes a $620 million OSC loan, $50 million from the Department of Commerce, which secured an equivalent $50 million equity position for the government in Vulcan, under the CHIPS and Science Act and $550 million in private capital.

Other notable actions by the DOW have included $18.4 million to Ucore Rare Metals through the U.S. Army Contracting Command to support construction of a commercial-scale rare earths separation facility in Louisiana, $6.2 million to Golden Metal Resources to conduct a pre-feasibility study for the Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada and up to $10 million to Elk Creek Resources through DPA Title III to establish a domestic scandium supply chain in Nebraska.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has also expanded financing activity. In October 2025, the DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO) took a 5% warrant-based equity stake in Lithium Americas as part of a renegotiation of a $2.2 billion LPO loan for the Thacker Pass project. In August 2025, DOE announced nearly $1 billion in funding opportunities across critical mineral supply chains, including $500 million for processing and battery manufacturing, $250 million for industrial byproduct recovery, $135 million for rare earth supply chain enhancement and $40 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s (ARPA-E) Realize Energy-rich Compound Opportunities Valorizing Extraction from Refuse waters (RECOVER) program.

EXIM has also expanded its role in domestic critical minerals financing through its Make More in America (MMIA) initiative, as well as authorities provided by the President’s Executive Order of March 2025 that established new measures to increase American mineral production. On March 31, EXIM approved an $11 million loan for IperionX Technology LLC in Virginia to support the purchase and installation of industrial metals processing equipment, followed on June 18 by a $16 million direct loan to Empire State Mines in New York to modernize zinc mining infrastructure. Beyond these approved transactions, EXIM has advanced consideration of several other U.S.-based projects with Letters of Interest (LOIs), including ongoing due diligence for the Elk Creek critical minerals project in Nebraska, the Ivanhoe Electric copper project in Arizona, and additional LOIs issued to U.S. companies pursuing lithium, copper, antimony and magnet manufacturing projects.

International Financing and Bilateral Partnerships

Internationally, the administration has primarily prioritized bilateral minerals agreements over multilateral coordination. One such agreement was signed with Australia on Oct. 20, with President Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing an $8.5 billion dollar critical minerals agreement that includes more than $3 billion in joint government investment within six months. The Pentagon committed to support development of a gallium refinery in Western Australia and EXIM issued seven LOIs totaling more than $2.2 billion, enabling up to $5 billion in total investment.

Another major partnership was announced on Oct. 28, when the United States and Japan signed the “Framework for Securing the Supply of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths through Mining and Processing.” The framework directs both governments to mobilize grants, loans, equity, offtake arrangements and insurance and establishes a six-month timeline for advancing selected projects. During the same trip, President Trump secured additional Japanese commitments that build on Japan’s earlier pledge to invest $550 billion in the United States, including plans to provide $2 billion for a copper smelting and refining project in the western United States.

The administration also expanded its outreach in Southeast Asia. On Oct. 26, President Trump concluded three agreements to strengthen regional minerals supply chains. The United States and Malaysia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance cooperation on critical minerals by improving sector governance, promoting investment and supporting Malaysia’s integration into secure exploration, processing and manufacturing value chains. The United States and Thailand signed a parallel MOU establishing a framework for deeper collaboration on resource development, including information sharing, regulatory coordination and expanded opportunities for U.S. and Thai companies across extraction, refining, recycling and related processing industries. The United States also finalized a trade agreement with Cambodia that opens the full minerals value chain to U.S. investment and provides treatment equal to that given to domestic firms.

Notwithstanding the mostly bilateral approach of the Trump administration to international cooperation in the critical minerals sector, it will use multilateral avenues when they are applicable. On Oct. 31, the Trump administration, alongside the Group of Seven, announced the first round of investments under the Critical Minerals Production Alliance, which aims to bring supply chains away from China by mobilizing private investment. The Alliance will coordinate among G7 and allied nations, noting existing bilateral deals within the bloc. For more information regarding this announcement, please see here.

The particular importance of the DFC has grown under the Trump administration and the leadership of recently Senate-confirmed DFC CEO Ben Black. This includes the April 30 U.S.-Ukraine investment fund, which created a $150 million joint reconstruction and minerals development mechanism backed by the DFC and which grants the United States preferential rights to mineral extraction in Ukraine while mobilizing Ukrainian co-investment. The DFC also backed the Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (CMC) on Oct. 23, a fund led by Orion Resource Partners with participation from Abu Dhabi’s ADQ. The partners made initial commitments totaling $1.8 billion with a target of $5 billion for global critical mineral investments.

These developments come as the DFC’s statutory authorities lapsed on Oct. 6 and key DPA authorities expired on Sept. 30, after Congress failed to enact a continuing resolution (CR). The House had included clean reauthorizations for both the DFC and the DPA in the CR it passed in September, but the stopgap measure continues to be stalled in the Senate. Congress is expected to restore these authorities as part of the CR to reopen the government, and lawmakers are also considering longer-term reforms to improve the effectiveness, flexibility and capacity of these tools, particularly the DFC.

Next Steps

Brownstein’s team has deep experience in the critical minerals space and sustained engagement with the Departments of Commerce, War and Energy, as well as the DFC and EXIM, which are central to the administration’s financing strategy. We work closely with private industry, investors and foreign governments to support supply chain security, navigate U.S. financing tools and identify opportunities for public-private partnerships. Our team also holds extensive experience in connecting private industry leaders with the U.S. government on issues related to supply chain security, global investment strategies and other top issues impacting clients. We are prepared to assist clients in assessing project eligibility, coordinating with relevant agencies and developing strategies to secure federal support in a rapidly evolving investment environment.

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