II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3962 

To establish a comprehensive United States strategy to address the national 

security threat posed by the People’s Republic of China’s control of 

nearly 2⁄3 of the global supply of critical minerals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2022 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. KING, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish a comprehensive United States strategy to address the national security threat posed by the People’s 

Republic of China’s control of nearly 2⁄3 of the global 

supply of critical minerals, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Quad Critical Minerals 

5 Partnership Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 3962 IS

1 (1) The People’s Republic of China is the global 

2 leader in mining, refining, and component manufac3 turing of critical minerals, producing approximately 

4 85 percent of the world’s supply between 2011 and 

5 2017. 

6 (2) In 2019, the United States imported an es7 timated 80 percent of its critical minerals from the 

8 People’s Republic of China. 

9 (3) On March 26, 2014, the World Trade Orga10 nization ruled that the People’s Republic of China’s 

11 export restraints on critical minerals violated its ob12 ligations under its protocol of accession to the World 

13 Trade Organization, thereby harming United States 

14 manufacturers and workers. 

15 (4) The Chinese Communist Party has threat16 ened to leverage the People’s Republic of China’s 

17 dominant position in the critical minerals market to 

18 ‘‘strike back’’ at the United States. 

19 (5) The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a 

20 strategic security dialogue comprised of the United 

21 States, Australia, Japan, and India that facilitates 

22 multilateral cooperation in areas of shared interest 

23 to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region. 

24 (6) The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is an 

25 effective partnership for reliable multilateral financVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:04 Apr 05, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3962.IS S3962

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 3962 IS

1 ing, development, and distribution of goods for glob2 al consumption, as evidenced by the Quad Vaccine 

3 Partnership announced on March 12, 2021. 

4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the People’s Republic of China’s dominant 

7 share of the global critical minerals market is a 

8 threat to the economic stability, well-being, and com9 petitiveness of key industries in the United States; 

10 (2) the United States should reduce reliance on 

11 the People’s Republic of China for critical minerals 

12 through— 

13 (A) strategic investments in development 

14 projects, production technologies, and refining 

15 facilities in the United States; or 

16 (B) in partnership with strategic allies of 

17 the United States that are reliable trading part18 ners, including members of the Quadrilateral 

19 Security Dialogue; 

20 (3) the United States International Develop21 ment Finance Corporation should collaborate with 

22 its counterpart entities in Japan, Australia, and 

23 India to finance a more reliable and secure supply 

24 chain of critical minerals; and 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 3962 IS

1 (4) the United States Trade Representative 

2 should initiate multilateral talks among the coun3 tries of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue to pro4 mote shared investment and development of critical 

5 minerals. 

6 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States— 

8 (1) to pursue a more reliable and secure supply 

9 chain of critical minerals; 

10 (2) to reduce reliance on the People’s Republic 

11 of China for critical minerals; and 

12 (3) to partner, consult, and coordinate with the 

13 governments of the countries in the Quadrilateral 

14 Security Dialogue in a concerted effort to make sig15 nificant strategic investments in development 

16 projects, production technologies, and refining facili17 ties for critical minerals. 

18 SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish a 

20 comprehensive strategy to address the national security 

21 threat posed by the People’s Republic of China’s control 

of nearly 2 22 ⁄3 of the global supply of critical minerals by 

23 developing a more reliable and secure supply chain of crit24 ical minerals. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 3962 IS

1 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by subsection 

2 (a) shall include efforts to develop a more reliable and se3 cure supply chain of critical minerals, including the fol4 lowing: 

5 (1) Plans to partner, consult, and coordinate 

6 with the governments of the other countries in the 

7 Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in a concerted effort 

8 to make significant strategic investments in develop9 ment projects, production technologies, and refining 

10 facilities. 

11 (2) A strategy to leverage the partnership of 

12 the United States International Development Fi13 nance Corporation and its counterpart entities in 

14 those countries. 

15 (3) A strategy to decrease trade barriers for the 

16 development, production, refinement, and shipment 

17 of critical minerals among those countries. 

18 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

21 President shall submit to the appropriate congres22 sional committees a report on the strategy required 

23 by subsection (a). 

24 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required in para25 graph (1) shall include— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 3962 IS

1 (A) a description of the extent of the en2 gagement of the United States International 

3 Development Finance Corporation with the gov4 ernments of the other countries of the Quad5 rilateral Security Dialogue to promote shared 

6 investment and development of critical min7 erals; and 

8 (B) a description of the work of the United 

9 States Trade Representative to engage with the 

10 government of those countries to decrease trade 

11 barriers for the development, production, refine12 ment, and transportation of critical minerals. 

13 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

14 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con15 gressional committees’’ means— 

16 (1) the Committee on Finance, the Committee 

17 on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Energy 

18 and Natural Resources of the Senate; and 

19 (2) the Committee on Ways and Means, the 

20 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee 

21 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep22 resentatives. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 3962 IS

1 SEC. 6. PRIORITIZATION OF SUPPORT BY UNITED STATES 

2 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE 

3 CORPORATION. 

4 The United States International Development Fi5 nance Corporation shall prioritize providing support under 

6 title II of the Better Utilization of Investments Leading 

7 to Development Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9621 et seq.) for 

8 development projects, production technologies, and refin9 ing facilities for critical minerals that the Corporation de10 termines will— 

11 (1) contribute to the development of a more re12 liable and secure supply chain of critical minerals; 

13 (2) reduce reliance on the People’s Republic of 

14 China for critical minerals; and 

15 (3) facilitate cooperation with the governments 

16 of the other countries in the Quadrilateral Security 

17 Dialogue in a concerted effort to make significant 

18 strategic investments in development projects, pro19 duction technologies, and refining facilities for crit20 ical minerals. 

21 SEC. 7. INITIATION OF MULTILATERAL DISCUSSIONS BY 

22 UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE. 

23 The United States Trade Representative shall initiate 

24 multilateral discussions with the governments of the other 

25 countries in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue for the 

26 purpose of— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 3962 IS

1 (1) developing a more reliable and secure sup2 ply chain of critical minerals; 

3 (2) reducing reliance on the People’s Republic 

4 of China for critical minerals; and 

5 (3) facilitating cooperation with those govern6 ments in a concerted effort to make significant stra7 tegic investments in development projects, produc8 tion technologies, and refining facilities for critical 

9 minerals. 

10 SEC. 8. DEFINITION OF CRITICAL MINERAL. 

11 In this Act, the term ‘‘critical mineral’’ has the mean12 ing given that term in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act 

13 of 2020 (division Z of Public Law 116–260; 30 U.S.C. 

14 1606(a)). 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS