Anastasios Arima
President Biden and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle gathered recently in the Rose Garden to sign the CHIPS and Science Act into law. Heralded by supporters as a significant investment in U.S. competitiveness and innovation, this legislation has been the cause for recent bipartisan praise — and rightfully so. The bill injects more than $280 billion into U.S. manufacturing and research of semiconductor chips, but it’s only a first step toward solving global chip production issues.
Tensions with Russia and China have disrupted supply chains already weakened by two years of the pandemic and strained economies. As a result, these overburdened supply chains continue to hamstring companies’ yearly targets.The CEO of Lucid Group, a U.S.-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, cited “extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges” as the reason for their halved production forecast, primarily due to a limited supply of semiconductors from China.
The five major automakers were not spared, either; this year, Toyota marked a drastic 42 percent drop in profit after struggling with rising materials prices.
None of this is news in global manufacturing. The funding earmarked in the CHIPS and Science Act seeks to reduce these vulnerabilities by incentivizing U.S. production of semiconductors.
But what about the critical metals and minerals needed to make these semiconductors and revive other U.S. manufacturing?
The materials required to build the parts are not addressed at all in the bill, and that supply chain is almost as dire, if not more so, than the one for semiconductors.
Today, the U.S. relies almost entirely on foreign sources to supply critical metals such as titanium, lithium and rare earths. Without access to these materials, there can be no advanced American manufacturing.
Furthermore, these metals and their mineral feedstocks are essential parts of the technologies required to reduce our carbon emissions and secure our national defense. It’s a matter of U.S. national security.
Take titanium, for example. Titanium metal is widely used, most notably in the global aerospace, medical, and defense sectors.
Its excellent resistance to corrosion and high strength-to-weight ratio make titanium a formidable and lasting material in everything from airplanes to electric vehicles, medical devices, and even consumer goods such as watches, phones and computers. Lighter weight and longer lasting than steel, titanium also plays a critical role in the production of U.S. military equipment like fighter jets and missiles.
Yet, despite America’s increasing demand for titanium, we no longer produce almost any of it in the United States. The last titanium metal sponge plant closed in Nevada over two years ago, and now the U.S. relies on a titanium supply chain largely controlled by Russia and China. With so much of our defense and national infrastructure dependent on titanium, the U.S. cannot afford to delay investing in its own domestic titanium supply infrastructure.
In addition to the funds set aside to re-shore semiconductor production, the CHIPS and Science Act pumps billions of dollars into cutting-edge research and development for technologies that will help the U.S. produce semiconductors and other advanced materials.
Some of these technologies already exist, including our technology, the Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction (HAMR) process developed by metallurgist Dr. Zhigang Zak Fang of the University of Utah, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy. This technology can transform almost any form of titanium mineral or titanium scrap feedstock into low-cost, low-carbon titanium metal. The technology can use scrap metal that is sitting in landfills to make essential components for space exploration, defense and electric vehicles.
The CHIPS and Science Act deserves its place among landmark legislation of the past quarter-century, but the government should act quickly to catalyze targeted investment in U.S. critical metal and mineral production.
If we take advantage of the resources under our feet and scale up domestic innovative production technologies, U.S. industry can outpace foreign competitors and reshore supplies critical for a stronger America.
