{"id":1330318,"date":"2022-02-23T05:08:44","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T10:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1330318"},"modified":"2022-02-23T05:08:59","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T10:08:59","slug":"biden-touts-chinese-backed-company-at-made-in-america-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-touts-chinese-backed-company-at-made-in-america-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Touts Chinese-Backed Company at Made in America Event"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-touts-chinese-backed-company-at-made-in-america-event%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1330318&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/\">Biden Administration<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">Pentagon gives $35 million to subsidize MP Materials&#8217;s rare earth mineral production<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"736\" height=\"491\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1238693266-736x491-1.jpg\" class=\"w-full lazyload blur-up wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"denied:data:image\/gif;base64, R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1238693266-scaled-e1645570611125.jpg 736w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1238693266-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1238693266-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1238693266-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1238693266-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1238693266-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1238693266-1400x933.jpg 1400w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75\">\n\t\t\t\tPresident Joe Biden speaks during a meeting on securing critical mineral supply chains (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI\/AFP via Getty Images)\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/chuck-ross\/\" title=\"Posts by Chuck Ross\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Chuck Ross<\/a> \u2022 February 23, 2022 5:00 am<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The White House on Tuesday featured a mining company partially owned by a Chinese mining conglomerate at an event dedicated to strengthening the domestic supply chain.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden announced at the event that the Pentagon would award $35 million to the Las Vegas-based MP Materials in an effort to boost U.S. rare mineral production. But MP Materials has arguably allowed China to tighten its grip on the world\u2019s rare earth minerals supply chain. Shenghe Resources Holding, which is partially owned by the Chinese government, owns 8 percent of the company. Shenge spearheaded the deal in 2017 to help MP Materials purchase a mine at Mountain Pass, Calif., out of bankruptcy. The Chinese company is also MP Materials\u2019s largest customer, accounting for nearly all of its $100 million annual revenue.<\/p>\n<p>MP Materials\u2019s links to China have long concerned American officials. The Department of Energy warned its scientists in 2020 not to collaborate with MP Materials executives because of China\u2019s links to the company, Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-rareearths-insight\/american-quandary-how-to-secure-weapons-grade-minerals-without-china-idUSKCN2241KF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Clearly, the MP Materials ownership structure is an issue,&#8221; Tom Lograsso, an official with the Department of Energy\u2019s Critical Materials Institute, told Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon award will subsidize MP Materials&#8217;s production of heavy rare earth minerals at its mine at Mountain Pass. The minerals are used to produce high-powered magnets used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and defense systems.<\/p>\n<p>James Kennedy, a consultant in the rare earth minerals industry, has raised concerns about other Pentagon grants to MP Materials. Kennedy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/ideas\/2020\/08\/rare-earths-pentagon-making-same-mistake-twice\/167585\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> Shenghe\u2019s investment in MP Materials a &#8220;geopolitical ruse&#8221; that helps China maintain a monopoly on the rare earth minerals market.<\/p>\n<p>Those concerns have not deterred the White House. MP Materials chairman James Litinsky spoke at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kiBYnuZMoxU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the virtual White House event<\/a> alongside Biden, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D., Calif.), White House infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu, and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.<\/p>\n<p>Litinsky said MP Materials was &#8220;committed to bringing the supply chain home&#8221; to the United States but made no mention of his company\u2019s links to Shenghe Resources Holding. He said MP Materials has partnered with General Motors to produce magnets for 500,000 electric vehicle motors.<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear whether the Pentagon has placed any restrictions on MP Materials\u2019s dealings with Shenghe going forward.<\/p>\n<p>Shenghe\u2019s investment in MP Materials is part of an ambitious plan to stabilize China\u2019s supply of rare earth minerals. The company has also partnered with companies in Greenland and Australia to mine rare minerals, <em>Quartz<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/webcache.googleusercontent.com\/search?q=cache:R5lCcmGOXe4J:https:\/\/qz.com\/1971108\/chinese-rare-earths-giant-shenghe-is-building-global-alliances\/&#038;hl=en&#038;gl=us&#038;strip=1&#038;vwsrc=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>. One goal is to &#8220;consolidate the achievements of overseas cooperation projects.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>MP Materials did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biden Administration Pentagon gives $35 million to subsidize MP Materials&#8217;s rare earth mineral production  President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting on securing critical mineral supply<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1330318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1330318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1330318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1330318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}