Column: Trump 2.0 won’t reverse Biden’s critical minerals push
Donald Trump has described the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a "green scam" and vowed to repeal it after he returns to the White House in January.
But just what are critical metals? They are sometimes referred to as “strategic” or “technology” metals, but clear definitions for these terms often prove elusive and routinely depend on to whom you’re talking.
Kaiser Bottom Fish Editor John Kaiser defines critical metals as “metals that are a minor input for an end product, in terms of the total value of the end product relative to the cost of that input and yet that input is critical to the overall functionality of the end product. For example, steel pipes are not made of molybdenum, but molybdenum, which makes up 0.5% of the alloy, gives it corrosion resistance and strength. That makes molybdenum critical to gas pipelines.”
