Chase CEO: Biden’s Electric Vehicle Push Could Benefit Beijing and Imperil US National Security

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, warns that the Biden administration’s push to transition to electric vehicles could benefit Beijing and “imperil” US national security.

Dimon argues that China’s dominance of the green energy supply chain creates a risk, as the US may become too reliant on them if efforts are not made through an “industrial policy” to ease China’s grip on the rare earth minerals needed to produce electric vehicles and other green energy forms. In his annual shareholder letter, Dimon noted that without such a strategy, China “could eventually imperil national security” by using subsidies to dominate batteries, rare earths, semiconductors, and electric vehicles. The CEO also wrote, “We cannot cede these important resources and capabilities to another country.”

This warning from Dimon comes after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland agreed that the US’s transition to electric vehicles increases America’s reliance on China. Republican congressman Guy Reschenthaler also pointed out at a March 28 House Appropriations Committee hearing that China controls most of the world’s “rare earth elements,” essential in producing electric vehicle batteries, making the US more susceptible to China’s dominance.

The Biden administration’s reluctance to support domestic mining projects is at odds with Biden’s campaign promise to back domestic mines. In October 2020, then-candidate Biden pledged to support American miners, earning support from the National Mining Association. However, Biden’s administration has funded foreign mines instead, specifically a Brazilian nickel and cobalt mine, announcing a $30 million investment in November 2021. Similarly, Biden’s State Department indicated that it was exploring using taxpayer funds to fund “about a dozen” mining projects abroad.

Republicans have criticised Biden for “choosing foreign workers over American workers.” Said Minnesota congressman Pete Stauber in December 2021, “Joe Biden wants to mine anywhere but in America, with any worker other than the American worker.”