Domestic minerals mining grows more important as Indonesia bans mineral exports

This month, Indonesia — a leading mineral  producer and exporter —  implemented an export ban on mineral ores, including  bauxite, copper, nickel, tin, gold and silver.

Despite being rich in several of these minerals, the United States is now forced to compete with nations like China for resources because accessing our own supplies is unnecessarily difficult. Export restrictions threaten the domestic manufacturing of next-generation technologies like the 2015 Ford F-150, which relies heavily on bauxite to reach the showroom floor.

Unfortunately, export bans like Indonesia’s are occurring with greater frequency, making a plan for domestic minerals production all the more important. In fact, 70 percent of CEOs in basic and high tech industries identify minerals and metals scarcity as a major threat to their companies’ success.

Much like affordable energy, a more efficient permitting process allowing new minerals mining projects to get off the ground quickly and safely would provide the necessary certainty for the U.S. manufacturing industry to really take off.

Now is the time for government leadership to take action on streamlining the permitting process, especially while the manufacturing sector is top of mind for President Obama and the rest of our administration.