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China dominates the global battery mineral market, from sourcing and mining to production, according to the .

What’s going on: “China imported almost 12 million short tons of raw and processed battery minerals, accounting for 44% of interregional trade, and exported almost 11 million short tons of battery materials, packs and components, or 58% of interregional trade in 2023, according to regional UN Comtrade data.”

• These minerals’ importance will only increase as the appetite for electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies grow.
• However, as the 51�Թ��� recently the Commerce Department, Section 232 tariffs will not increase domestic sourcing of these critical minerals or decrease U.S. reliance on China for them.
• Instead, to shore up domestic critical minerals supply, the U.S. needs permitting reform, incentives for producers and enhanced trade relationships with partners other than China.

Mining and production: China either produces domestically or has large ownership stakes in companies that produce these minerals.

• In 2023, the country produced about 18% (33,000 short tons) of the world’s mined lithium, and Chinese firms “control 25% of the world’s lithium mining capacity.”
• Chinese companies also have sizable investments in mining operations in the “lithium triangle,” an area in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia that holds half of the world’s lithium stores.
• “China produced 79%, or 1.27 million short tons, of the world’s natural graphite in 2024, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.”
• Chinese firms own 80% of cobalt production in Congo-Kinshasa, the location of more than 50% of the world’s cobalt production.

Trade: After production, raw battery minerals are exported—and in 2023, China accounted for nearly half (46%) of global raw battery mineral import trade.

• That year, the world’s largest lithium producer, Australia, sent almost all its lithium exports to China.

Processing: China has the global critical minerals processing market cornered, too.

• It processes more than 90% of the world’s graphite.
• In 2022, “Chinese companies accounted for over two-thirds of the world’s cobalt and lithium processing capacity.”
• The next year, China imported 20% of global processed battery minerals, mostly African cobalt. Also in 2023, China exported 58% of the world’s processed battery minerals, primarily synthetic graphite, elsewhere in Asia and to Oceania.

Battery materials manufacture and trade: “China accounted for 53% of the world’s battery material export trade in 2023.”

• In 2022, the country made 85% of the world’s anodes, 82% of its electrolytes, 74% of its separators and 70% of its cathodes.
• In 2023, China controlled almost 85% of “battery cell production capacity by monetary value.”

A big majority of manufacturers expect AI to become essential to their operations by 2030—but they need policymakers to support all that growth and innovation, as a new from the Manufacturing Leadership Council, the 51�Թ���’s digital transformation division, lays out.

By the numbers: The report found that 51% of manufacturers already use AI in their operations.

• Meanwhile, 61% expect investment in AI to increase by 2027.
• That number only grows as manufacturers look further into the future. By 2030, 80% say AI will be essential to growing or maintaining their business.

Current barriers: Right now, manufacturers say some barriers prevent them from implementing AI to its fullest potential.

• They name data quality and availability as the top challenges, with 65% of respondents reporting they lack the right data for AI applications and 62% citing data that is unstructured or poorly formatted.

The policy angle: Manufacturers don’t just need to overcome the technical, logistical or workforce challenges of rolling out AI solutions—challenges that include everything from modernizing data architectures to upskilling and training workers on new tools. They also need a pro-growth policy framework, which the 51�Թ��� has for policymakers. The key recommendations are:

• Adopt a pro-AI regulatory approach: Given the growing number and variety of use cases of AI in manufacturing, the industry requires an optimized regulatory environment.
• Develop the manufacturing workforce of the AI age: Policymakers should support training programs, career and technical education institutions and STEM education and immigration. According to the MLC’s report, 82% of manufacturers cite a lack of AI-ready skills as the top workforce challenge.
• Advance energy and permitting reform: AI needs a lot of power, and energy and permitting reform is necessary to support AI-related data center growth.
• Protect personal data: Congress should pass a comprehensive privacy law that preempts state laws, provides liability protections that prevent frivolous litigation and adopts a risk-based approach that enables innovation and AI.
• Support U.S. manufacturing of AI chips: Policymakers should execute funding agreements with chip manufacturers and renew the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit.
• Incentivize U.S. AI innovation: Congress must pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that preserves pro-manufacturing tax policies.

Manufacturers say: “AI continues to drive innovation, efficiency and better outcomes for manufacturers across America. From accelerating drug discovery and development to optimizing manufacturing operations, AI enables companies to make smarter, faster and more impactful decisions,” Johnson & Johnson Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Operations and Risk Officer and 51�Թ��� Board Chair Kathy Wengel.

• “Importantly, AI empowers employees at all levels, when we equip them with the knowledge and understanding to help shape the implementation of these new technologies. AI is proving to be an essential partner on the shop floor, and we must continue to ensure manufacturing employees have the skills they need to build the future of our industry.”

The last word: “The latest report from the MLC reinforces the need for modernized, agile, pro-manufacturing AI policy solutions, so that manufacturers can continue to innovate on shop floors across America,” said 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons.

• “Manufacturers welcomed President Trump’s early commitment to maintaining and advancing America’s global AI dominance, and we look forward to continuing to champion American AI leadership and manufacturing in America, which starts with adopting a pro-AI regulatory framework and pursuing policies that bolster innovation.”

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a Native American group that would have halted the development of North America’s largest copper mine, a partnership between Rio Tinto and BHP Group (, subscription).

The situation: The appeal attempted to prevent the transfer of federal land to the mining project, due to the religious significance of one area to some members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

Why it matters: This site is the third-largest known copper deposit in the world and will be instrumental in the efforts—led by the Trump administration and by the 51�Թ���—to increase domestic sources of key minerals.

• “Projects such as Resolution have been tied up in legal challenges for years, making the U.S. one of the most challenging places to develop new mines,” Bloomberg noted.

The benefits: “The companies say the mine would supply as much as 25% of U.S. demand and as much as 40 billion pounds of copper over 40 years amid a soaring need for the metal in electric vehicles.”

Next steps: The land transfer may occur as soon as June 16, once the U.S. Forest Service issues a mandatory draft environmental impact statement and record of decision. The companies are still awaiting several federal, state and local permits, however.

The 51�Թ��� says: “Manufacturers are eager for Resolution Copper to get underway to support strong domestic supply chains of critical materials after years of permitting delays, as well as to create thousands of high-paying jobs,” said 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen. “The U.S. has an acute need for more mineral production and processing capacity. Policymakers should work to support many more such projects.”

The 51�Թ��� is continuing to advise policymakers on the opportunities and hurdles facing the industry as it seeks to support AI innovation. This week, the 51�Թ��� to a request for information from the House’s AI and Energy Working Group, led by Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-ND), addressing concerns about “American energy dominance and artificial intelligence’s energy demands, securing the energy grid and outpacing and outcompeting China.”

The big picture: “With the digitalization of manufacturing … manufacturers are increasingly dependent on a robust network of cutting-edge data centers for the smooth execution of their core business operations. AI in particular has become integral to modern manufacturing, as it increasingly transforms and supports a multitude of aspects of manufacturing, from product design to shop floor operations to supply chain management.”

• “Manufacturers also rely on the same energy sources as data centers to power their operations. As demand grows and supply remains relatively static, there is a pressing need to use all policy levers available to ensure sufficient, reliable, resilient and affordable energy for all users.”

Permitting reform: The 51�Թ���’s first recommendation to the working group was that policymakers must enact permitting reform—and fast. “Wood Mackenzie has predicted that U.S. demand for power could increase by 15% by the end of this decade,” the 51�Թ��� noted.

• The 51�Թ��� advised policymakers to take certain crucial steps, including expediting judicial review, accelerating the permit process for energy infrastructure—including more transmission and distribution lines, pipelines and permanent carbon sequestration sites—and providing greater regulatory certainty.

A secure electric grid: Manufacturers are concerned about service disruptions caused by severe weather and aging infrastructure, the 51�Թ��� said. “A reliable, resilient modern grid is required to enable the historic growth in data centers—which in turn can contribute to manufacturing growth.”

• The 51�Թ��� recommended the build-out of natural gas generation and transportation infrastructure, as well as the permitting and construction of more transmission and distribution, as mentioned above.

The AI future: Manufacturers also recognize the importance of enabling AI innovation and the risks of imposing an overly restrictive regulatory regime on the fast-evolving technology.

• To that end, the 51�Թ��� recommended “a regulatory approach that is based on reviews of existing regulations before enacting new ones … a strategy of international engagement that keeps foreign markets open to the use of American AI … and developing the manufacturing workforce of the AI age by supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics education programs at all levels,” among other policies.

The last word: “Maintaining a favorable policy environment for AI will provide certainty to the private sector, which in turn will spur additional multibillion-dollar investments in U.S. manufacturing and innovation,” said 51�Թ��� Managing Vice President of Policy Charles Crain.

51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons moderated a panel of state governors at SelectUSA on Monday, discussing the effects of AI and the policies that have aided manufacturers in the leaders’ respective states.

The panel: Four governors participated in the “Governors Investing in American Technological Competitiveness” panel—Govs. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.

• SelectUSA, a U.S. government program led by the U.S. Department of Commerce, aims to promote and support job-creating investment in the U.S.

Timmons says: “I want to thank you so much for your leadership on behalf of manufacturers everywhere,” said Timmons, as he kicked off the panel discussion.

• “You’ve got an important perspective serving both in the State House and on the front lines to tell us how manufacturing is evolving and also the opportunities that AI presents, as well as emerging technology. Now by harnessing these technologies, it becomes clear that the United States is the best place to invest the next dollar in manufacturing.”

The AI transformation: When asked how AI is transforming their states, the governors had a range of answers.

• “We are a logistics state, and for us, our oil and gas industries are huge,” said Dunleavy. “Our mining industries are huge. Our fishing industries are huge, and those industries are capitalizing on AI for a whole host of reasons and methods. I know in the oil industry it’s making drilling a lot more efficient. And so these efficiencies are going to result in better approaches, better products, better services.”
• “If you think about the assets that the state of Maryland has, the reason that AI was so important is … that Maryland has such uniquely tethered assets to our state that made AI … desirable there,” said Moore. “[I]n the state of Maryland, you have the Johns Hopkins data center and AI initiative and the University of Maryland AI center, and you also have the University of Maryland serving as a capital of quantum. … We think it’s important for our states to be on the front edge of this, instead of waiting for consequences.”
• “We know that some of our natural assets, like having the most engineers in the country per capita, like institutions like the University of Michigan or Wayne State or Michigan State University … give us an opportunity when it comes to AI,” said Whitmer. ��“Michigan will be the first state in the nation, perhaps the first place in North America, to restart a nuclear facility. … [T]here’s no question [that] if we are going to meet our clean energy goals and power the technology that is going to drive … almost every facet of our life, we’ve got to have the clean energy to do that.”
• “It’s estimated that 70% of the internet traffic of the world goes through Virginia, and that gives us a great opportunity to not just lead the nation, but lead the world in the advancement of AI,” said Youngkin. “And we’ve seen huge investment across the state. What that also requires is collaboration with our university and high school education system . . . and that allows us to really develop a unique pipeline of talent. … [A]t the heart of the application of AI is how it translates into driving efficiencies and opportunities and new capabilities in manufacturing.”

The bottom line: “As you heard from these four leaders—manufacturing powers the economic prosperity of the United States,” Timmons said in conclusion. “New technology opens new doors to do so, and the right policy decisions—and the right leadership—will make all the difference.”

Watch the whole thing: You can view the panel discussion on C-SPAN .

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Every manufacturing executive has talented innovation leaders in the middle ranks of his or her company—managing a lab or department, but eager to move up. How do you prepare them for the next step in leadership so they can become the executives of tomorrow?

The Innovation Research Interchange, the 51�Թ���’s innovation division, offers a program designed to fill this gap in manufacturing professionals’ career development. The program, a partnership with Northwestern University, takes place over one packed week in June every year, and gives these midlevel managers a comprehensive introduction to business strategy, accounting and finance, organizational behavior, brand management and much more.

It’s the starter pack for those seeking to advance in the manufacturing industry. If you have someone on your team who could benefit, here’s what you need to know.

Who it’s for: The course is targeted at managers who have 10–15 years of experience and usually a graduate degree (most often a Ph.D.). These managers typically have several direct reports, oversee a lab or department and handle their own budgets.

• Past participants have worked at major manufacturers and related companies of all sectors, including Mars and FM Global.

What they’ll learn: This one-week intensive residential program—this year taking place June 8–13—features classes in the morning and afternoon, and also includes lunch, dinner and evening study and networking sessions. The courses include:

• Understanding Financial Statements;
• Evaluating Financial Results and Investment Projects;
• Financial Strategy and Cost of Capital;
• Driving Profitable Growth;
• Defending Your Brand; and,
• Law for Technical Executives.

Who’s teaching: The program is taught by eminent Northwestern faculty, including award-winning professors in marketing, management and finance.

• The program’s director, Adjunct Professor of Executive Education Marian Powers, boasts a long career of developing finance textbooks and software and specializes in teaching financial reporting and analysis to executives.

Inside the classroom: Every session of the program introduces participants to skills they may not have encountered in their technical positions. To take just one example, the High-Performance Negotiation Skills session introduces these managers to the framework and tactics that high-level leaders use in handling challenges.

• The course helps participants answer essential questions, such as “How should you think differently about negotiating as part of a team? How should you think about coalition-building in deals with many parties? How can you negotiate effectively from positions of weakness as well as strength?”
• To answer these questions, participants will examine case studies from the manufacturing industry. All the program’s sessions draw on real-world, relevant examples, ensuring that participants receive a useful toolkit of strategies.

What they’re saying: “Above all, this course illustrates a framework behind the motivations of our marketing and business/finance counterparts,” said one participant.

• “We no longer have the excuse of ‘why do they do it that way!?’ but rather, we can help those functions more effectively and proactively.”

Learn more and register: To learn more about the Shaping Innovation Leaders program or to register, visit the . This year’s program is still accepting applicants.

Aluminum is “an essential part of everything we do”—so we need to recycle more of it.

That’s the message from leading global aluminum and renewable energy company Hydro, based in Oslo, Norway, whose president and CEO, Eivind Kallevik, recently sat down with the 51�Թ��� to discuss the importance of the metal to the U.S.

Ubiquitous and crucial: “Construction, automobiles, [energy and technology]—you’ll find an enormous amount of aluminum in all of that,” Kallevik told us. “Going forward, it will just become increasingly important.”

An energy imperative: The U.S. has an aging electrical grid—a matter on which the 51�Թ��� has long a —and modernizing and expanding it to meet Americans’ energy appetite will require aluminum, and a lot of it.

• “There’s going to be a huge increase in demand for electricity, especially given [the growth in construction of] data centers,” said Kallevik.
• For vehicles to become more energy-efficient, they must be lighter, and “the best way of doing that is more aluminum.”

A workhorse: One of the metal’s best qualities is its ability to withstand nearly endless reuse, Kallevik said.

• “You can recycle it infinitely. If you sort it the right way, you will be able to take it back to exactly the same state it was in in the first place.”
• Hydro—which has operations in 17 states and employs thousands of people in the U.S.—has multiple aluminum recycling facilities throughout the country, including at sites in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, California and Texas.

Keep more at home: “The more [aluminum] you can keep onshore, the better it is” for manufacturing, the economy in general and national security, Kallevik continued, adding that aluminum is critical in many U.S. defense applications.

• “If the U.S. kept more scrap exports onshore, we would reduce dependence on third parties” for the metal, he said.

Policy and supply chains: Because building is a heavily energy-intensive process, “energy policy is going to be increasingly important” in the coming years, Kallevik went on.

• “To protect its industries, the U.S. needs to ensure a fair regulatory framework to ensure that everybody in a global context competes on a level playing field,” he told the 51�Թ���.
• And when it comes to shoring up domestic supplies of aluminum, “to be more self-sufficient, the short-term solution for the U.S. is recycling,” he said. “Use what’s on the ground today, and for tomorrow, build capacity.”

Komatsu is a household name in Japan, but it’s making big moves in the U.S., too.

An all-of-the-above strategy: The commercial equipment maker, whose product catalogue runs the gamut from bulldozers and log loaders to autonomous haulage systems for mines, has launched multiple new innovations in recent months.

• In March, it introduced two new wheel loader models with improved fuel efficiency, more engine power and faster speeds.
• Last fall, Komatsu announced the launch of its first commercialized truck in its Power Agnostic series, vehicles capable of running on multiple fuel types, including diesel, hydrogen fuel cells and batteries.

Expansions underway: The global manufacturing giant is also expanding. In late 2024, it announced the construction of new facilities in Mesa, Arizona, and Peoria, Illinois.

• The Mesa project, slated for completion in 2026, will triple the square footage of the company’s current operational footprint in the area. The new sales and service facility will support the company’s mining customers throughout the Southwestern U.S.
• The Peoria expansion, which will replace an existing structure built in the 1970s, “will provide a collaborative space for engineering, sales, manufacturing, management and other functions,” according to the company. It will incorporate solar panels, stormwater reclamation systems and other sustainable technologies.
• A Komatsu 980E-5SE mining truck—winner of the Makers Madness contest’s “2024 Coolest Thing Made in Illinois” award from 51�Թ��� state partner the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association—will be installed permanently outside the new Peoria building, which is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2025. The truck is manufactured at the site.

All in on mining: It’s fair to say Komatsu has a special focus on mining. In September, following its acquisition of German mining equipment manufacturer GHH Group GmbH, it showcased an expanded lineup of underground mining machinery at the MINExpo tradeshow in Las Vegas.

• It also recently unveiled its Modular ecosystem, an “interoperable mine management platform” to give mining customers access to all connected operational data in one place.

In the works: At the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, Komatsu exhibited some exciting in-development projects, including the prototype of an electric underwater bulldozer and artwork for planned construction machinery capable of working on the moon.

• The bulldozer—currently a concept vehicle with no planned introduction data as of yet—is a driverless, remote-controlled, electric-powered vehicle. This will be the second iteration of an underwater, battery-operated bulldozer from Komatsu; the first, the D155W, rolled off conveyor belts in Japan in the 1970s.
• “We’ve found that a lot of those machines built a long time ago are still in use,” said Komatsu Chief Digital Officer Michael Gidaspow. “People need this product, so they are keeping them running. Japan has a lot of coastline and coastal infrastructure to maintain, so this kind of dozer is so important there.” The planned update utilizes the latest technology, including automated blade control and teleoperation. It is powered by batteries, whereas the original had a diesel engine, Gidaspow added.
• Komatsu’s lunar construction machinery work is part of the Artemis Program aimed at getting humans back on the moon. “Life on the moon will demand roads, housing and other infrastructure, and lunar construction machines will be indispensable for building all this,” according to the company. “Once we only dreamed of humans living on the moon. Today we are making it a growing possibility.”

Global energy management and digital transformation giant Schneider Electric will invest more than $700 million in U.S. operations over the next two years, the company announced yesterday (, subscription).

What’s going on: “Schneider said it intends to leverage the investment to ‘support the country’s focus on bolstering the nation’s energy infrastructure to power AI growth, boost domestic manufacturing and strengthen energy security.’”

• The investment—the largest planned single capital expenditure in Schneider Electric’s 135-plus-year history—will be used to expand manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and to boost “smart factory transformation” across Texas, Massachusetts, Missouri and Tennessee, among other states.
• The company is the latest in a string of large manufacturers to announce sizeable domestic investments. Last week, biopharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson it would spend more than $55 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.
• The announcement comes less than a year after the opening of Schneider Electric’s 105,000-square-foot facility in Red Oak, Texas, to support the data center boom in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.

Where else funds will go: The money will also be used to expand a campus in El Paso, Texas, “to keep up with growing demand to increase production of switchgear and power distribution products,” and to open a Houston innovation center that will offer AI-powered automation solutions.

Our take: “Schneider Electric’s significant investment is a clear sign that manufacturing in America is moving forward—driving economic growth, innovation and job creation across the country,” 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons in a statement quoted in the article.

• “By expanding their operations with a focus on energy security, automation and AI, Schneider Electric is not only strengthening America’s competitiveness but also creating new opportunities and powering our nation’s future.”

Johnson & Johnson will spend more than $55 billion on manufacturing, research and technology in the U.S. over the next four years, the biopharmaceutical company announced ().��These investments include a long-planned $2 billion state-of-the-art biologics facility in Wilson, North Carolina.

What’s going on: The 51�Թ��� joined J&J for the groundbreaking of the 500,000-square-foot biologics manufacturing plant in Wilson on Friday.

• The White House the announcement and J&J’s commitment to manufacturing in America. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) also attended the ceremony to highlight the facility’s importance to the state economy and the jobs it will bring to the state.

Other projects across the total investment will include:

• Three new advanced manufacturing sites and the expansion of several facilities in J&J’s Innovative Medicine and MedTech businesses;
• Significant spending on research-and-development infrastructure “aimed at developing lifesaving and life-changing treatments in areas such as oncology, neuroscience, immunology, cardiovascular disease and robotic surgery,” the company; and
• More investment aimed at speeding drug discovery and development, supporting workforce training and improving business operations.

Common goal: The Wilson site demonstrates the power of collaboration, Johnson & Johnson Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Operations & Risk Officer and 51�Թ��� Board Chair Kathy Wengel said at the groundbreaking.

• “Today is a tangible example of how J&J is bringing communities, government, education and industry together to achieve the common goal of creating a future-ready workforce that is ready to tackle the toughest health challenges and achieve new breakthroughs.”

Why it’s important: The investments will strengthen not only North Carolina’s economy, but the U.S. economy as a whole, 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons said at the event.

• “Every $1 invested in manufacturing adds more than $2.60 to the economy. That’s top-of-the-line ROI for communities, neighborhoods and cities like Wilson—among the best ROIs you can get. And every new manufacturing job supports, on average, five additional jobs in other industries.”

The big picture: The new Wilson facility will generate a $3 billion impact across North Carolina in its first decade of operation.

• It will support about 5,000 jobs during construction and create more than 500 permanent positions—paying an average of $109,000 a year—in the state ().

Certainty and predictability: These investments illustrate why policymakers must ensure that manufacturers have more certainty and predictability, not less, Timmons added.

• “Manufacturing—especially biopharmaceutical manufacturing—requires years of planning, ingenuity and investment decisions,” he said. “When there’s stability, common sense and competitive policies, companies like Johnson & Johnson can plan for the future—and plan big.”
• Timmons said that to “make more wins like this happen,” elected officials must stay focused on a comprehensive manufacturing strategy, including a “competitive tax policy, balanced regulations, prompt permitting, abundant energy and smart trade policies.”

The tax factor: J&J credits the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with allowing it to increase its investment, according to .

• Investments like J&J’s “are why it is critical that pro-growth provisions of the 2017 tax law be made permanent and more competitive,” Timmons wrote in a . “If Congress fails to act, American jobs—184,000 in North Carolina—will be wiped out. We can’t let that happen.”
• But if Congress does preserve the measures, manufacturing will win, Timmons said. “And when manufacturing wins, America wins.”