I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10376 

To amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to prevent the People’s 

Republic of China from exploiting items such as black mass and certain 

other products produced in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2024 

Mr. WITTMAN (for himself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. GIMENEZ, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. TORRES of New 

York, and Mr. CLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to prevent 

the People’s Republic of China from exploiting items 

such as black mass and certain other products produced 

in the United States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. EXPORT CONTROLS TO PREVENT THE PEO2 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FROM EXPLOIT3 ING ITEMS SUCH AS BLACK MASS AND CER4 TAIN OTHER PRODUCTS PRODUCED IN THE 

5 UNITED STATES. 

6 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facili7 tate resilient critical mineral supply chains and promote 

8 the development of domestic processing, sustainable recy9 cling and recovery of critical materials from spent lithium10 ion batteries, limit predatory price inflation by the Peo11 ple’s Republic of China, and encourage a domestic battery 

12 recycling and recycled material processing industry. 

13 (b) AMENDMENTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part I of the Export Control 

15 Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4811 et seq.) is 

16 amended by inserting after section 1758 the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 1758A. EXPORT CONTROLS TO PREVENT THE PEO19 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FROM EXPLOIT20 ING ITEMS SUCH AS BLACK MASS AND CER21 TAIN OTHER PRODUCTS PRODUCED IN THE 

22 UNITED STATES. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

24 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

25 require a license for the export, reexport, or in-country 


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1 transfer of covered items if the end-user is a foreign adver2 sary or foreign adversary entity. 

3 ‘‘(b) LICENSING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

4 shall deny any license application for the export, re-export, 

5 or in-country transfer of black mass if the end-user is a 

6 foreign adversary or a foreign adversary entity. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘black mass’— 

9 ‘‘(A) means intermediate material pro10 duced from the mechanical processing of spent 

11 lithium-ion batteries, cathode active material, 

12 and anode active material that includes a mix13 ture of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, 

14 and graphite; and 

15 ‘‘(B) does not include intact batteries, par16 tially disassembled batteries, or any component 

17 of the battery that has not been subjected to 

18 mechanical processing; 

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered item’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) black mass; and 

21 ‘‘(B) swarf; 

22 ‘‘(3) term ‘foreign adversary’ means— 

23 ‘‘(A) the People’s Republic of China, in24 cluding all Special Administrative Regions; 

25 ‘‘(B) the Republic of Cuba; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the Islamic Republic of Iran; 

2 ‘‘(D) the Democratic People’s Republic of 

3 Korea; 

4 ‘‘(E) the Russian Federation; and 

5 ‘‘(F) any country determined by the Sec6 retary, in consultation with other relevant Fed7 eral officials, to have engaged in a long-term 

8 pattern or serious instances of conduct signifi9 cantly adverse to the national security of the 

10 United States or security and safety of United 

11 States persons; 

12 ‘‘(4) the term ‘foreign adversary entity’ 

13 means— 

14 ‘‘(A) a foreign entity subject to the juris15 diction of, or organized under the laws of, a for16 eign adversary; 

17 ‘‘(B) a foreign entity that is more than 25 

18 percent owned, directed, controlled, financed, or 

19 influenced directly or indirectly by the Govern20 ment of the People’s Republic of China, the 

21 Chinese Communist Party, or the Chinese mili22 tary, including any entity for which the Govern23 ment of the People’s Republic of China, the 

24 Chinese Communist Party, or the Chinese mili25 tary has the ability, through ownership of a maVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:58 Jan 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10376.IH H10376

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1 jority or a dominant minority of the total out2 standing voting interest in the entity, board 

3 representation, proxy voting, a special share, 

4 contractual arrangements, formal or informal 

5 arrangements to act in concert, or other means, 

6 to determine, direct, or decide for the entity in 

7 an important manner; or 

8 ‘‘(C) a foreign entity owned, directed, or 

9 controlled by a foreign entity described in sub10 paragraph (A) or (B); 

11 ‘‘(5) the term ‘permanent magnet’ means Neo12 dymium Iron Boron magnets and Samarium Cobalt 

13 magnets; and 

14 ‘‘(6) the term ‘swarf’ means intermediate mate15 rial produced from the mechanical processing to 

16 shape and produce permanent magnets with a com17 position that includes Neodymium Iron Boron, Sa18 marium Cobalt, Aluminum Nickel Cobalt, or end-of19 life permanent magnet waste materials.’’. 

20 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The tables of 

21 contents in section 2(b) and title XVII of division A 

22 of Public Law 115–232 are each amended by insert23 ing after the item relating to section 1758 the fol24 lowing: 


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‘‘Sec. 1758A. Export controls to prevent the People’s Republic of China from 

exploiting items such as black mass and other products produced in the United States.’’. 

Æ 


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