Trump Launches 'Project Vault' to Stockpile Critical Minerals for US Industry

"We're announcing the creation of the US Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, the first ever stockpile of critical minerals that you've been hearing so much about," Trump said on Monday during a signing event attended by Cabinet officials, lawmakers and business leaders, including General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Ivanhoe Mines founder Robert Friedland.

Trump said the initiative would be launched under a program "known as Project Vault" to prevent shortages from disrupting US manufacturers and workers. "Today, we're launching what will be known as Project Vault to ensure that American businesses and workers are never harmed by any shortage," he said.

He framed the move as an expansion of the US approach to strategic stockpiles. "Just as we have long had a strategic petroleum reserve and a stockpile of critical minerals for national defense, we're now creating this reserve for American industry, so we don't have any problems," Trump said.

Export-Import Bank Chairman John Yovanovitch said Trump issued "a very clear directive," which he described as "much more of an order," to create the reserve "for the first time in American history" in a way that supports the "nonmilitary manufacturing complex." Yovanovitch said it was structured so that it would "not be subsidized by American taxpayers."

Trump said the plan would combine "$10 billion dollars in Export-Import Bank financing with $2 billion in private sector financing." He added: "We even expect the American taxpayer to make a profit from the interest on the loan used to start the Project Vault."

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum credited Trump with pushing faster mining approvals and international deals. "Just like drill, baby, drill, you said mine, baby, mine," Burgum said. He also said, "This week, we'll announce 11 more countries that are joining that club of nations as part of this global coalition," adding that "there's 20 more nations that want to join."

Barra said a stronger supply chain matters for the US economy and the auto sector. "Having a resilient supply chain is critical for our nation and it's critical for all industry, especially the auto industry," she said. Barra added, "We still see a strong consumer, so I'm excited about 2026."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tied the project to national strategy. "Economic security is national security," he said, adding that "a country does not have sovereignty if we don't have control of our critical minerals."

Critical minerals are a broad category of raw materials used across advanced manufacturing, energy systems, electronics, and defense supply chains, and have become a growing focus of US-India and wider global economic-security diplomacy.

The United States has long maintained strategic reserves, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, while policymakers in recent years have also highlighted dependence on concentrated supply chains - including China-linked processing - as a vulnerability for key industries.

- IANS