美国政府将启动一个$12bn的关键矿产储备计划，以对抗中国在关键金属上的主导地位，并在短缺与紧急情况下支援国内制造商。美国出口进口银行（Exim）将为名为Project Vault的行动提供$10bn的债务融资，用于在全美建立可由汽车制造商等厂商动用的「必要原材料」库存，另有$2bn来自私人资本。
该专案将由独立的chief executive领导，Exim在其董事会中占有一席，并将购买稀土、铜、锂等矿产，由Traxys、Mercuria与Hartree Partners三家合作贸易公司负责采购。Exim表示该行动将「保护国内制造商免受供应冲击、支持美国对关键原材料的生产与加工，并强化美国的关键矿产部门」，该计划先由Bloomberg报导，预计于周一公布，White House官员确认President Donald Trump将启动此倡议。
在美中关系紧张且受Trump强硬关税政策加剧的背景下，西方政策制定者在过去一年加速分散金属来源以降低对中国依赖；中国主导多种关键矿产供应链，并在去年以限制部分材料（含稀土）出口加强将该领域武器化。美国已存在某些金属的defence stockpile，且去年至少新增$1bn材料；已有超过十二家公司（含Lockheed Martin、General Motors、Alphabet’s Google与Clarios）签署成为Vault成员，支付费用以换取在紧急时难以于公开市场取得时提取矿产的权利，Vault除收取Exim所称「小」的营运费外不以盈利为目的，采购贸易商亦仅收取小比例。Vault目标使库存约等于60天用量，并自行决定购买哪些矿产；Eurasia Group分析师Tim Puko认为该储备短期内不会立刻改变美国对北京的依赖，但可能在长期稳定市场，前提是有后续落实并向合作伙伴证明可信度。
The US government will launch a $12bn critical minerals stockpile to counter China’s dominance over key metals and to support domestic manufacturers during shortages and emergencies. The US Export-Import Bank (Exim) will provide $10bn in debt financing for the effort, named Project Vault, to build domestic stores of “essential raw materials” across the US that manufacturers such as carmakers can tap, with an additional $2bn coming from private capital.
The project will be led by an independent chief executive, while Exim will hold a board seat, and it will buy minerals such as rare earths, copper, and lithium, sourced by three partnered trading companies: Traxys, Mercuria, and Hartree Partners. Exim said the effort would “protect domestic manufacturers from supply shocks, support US production and processing of critical raw materials, and strengthen America’s critical minerals sector”; it was first reported by Bloomberg and is due to be unveiled on Monday, and a White House official confirmed President Donald Trump was set to launch the initiative.
Over the past year, as US-China ties have been strained and exacerbated by Trump’s aggressive tariff policies, western policymakers have accelerated efforts to diversify metal supply and reduce dependence on China; China dominates many critical-minerals supply chains and last year escalated its weaponisation by restricting exports of some materials including rare earths. The US already has a defence stockpile of certain metals and added at least $1bn of materials last year; more than a dozen companies, including Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Alphabet’s Google, and Clarios, have signed up as Vault members, paying a fee for the right to withdraw minerals in emergencies when open-market sourcing fails, and Vault will not make money beyond a “small” operating fee while procuring trading houses also take a small cut. Vault aims to hold about 60 days’ worth of material and will decide which minerals to buy; Eurasia Group analyst Tim Puko said it is not an immediate game-changer for reducing US dependence on Beijing, but could help stabilise the market longer term if there is follow-through and credibility with partners.