[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6659 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6659
To establish within the Office of the United States Trade
Representative a Chief Critical Minerals Negotiator, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 11, 2025
Mr. Moore of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. McGuire, Mr. Barr, and
Mr. Lawler) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish within the Office of the United States Trade
Representative a Chief Critical Minerals Negotiator, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Critical Minerals Trade Security
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Critical minerals, including rare earth elements, are
essential for national security and economic resilience.
(2) Processed critical minerals and their derivative
products are key building blocks of the defense industrial base
of the United States and integral to applications such as jet
engines, missile guidance systems, advanced computing, radar
systems, advanced optics, and secure communications equipment.
(3) The United States remains heavily dependent on foreign
sources of critical minerals which exposes the economy and
defense sector to supply chain disruptions and economic
coercion.
(4) Foreign producers of critical minerals have engaged in
price manipulation, overcapacity, and arbitrary export
restrictions, using their supply chain dominance as a tool for
geopolitical and economic leverage over the United States.
SEC. 3. CHIEF CRITICAL MINERALS NEGOTIATOR.
Section 141 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171(b)) is amended
as follows:
(1) In subsection (b)(2)--
(A) in the first sentence, by inserting ``one Chief
Critical Minerals Negotiator,'' after ``one Chief
Agricultural Negotiator,''; and
(B) by inserting ``the Chief Critical Minerals
Negotiator,'' after ``the Chief Agricultural
Negotiator,'' each place it appears.
(2) In subsection (c), by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(7) The principal functions of the Chief Critical Minerals
Negotiator shall be to conduct trade negotiations regarding critical
minerals, enforce trade agreements relating to United States critical
minerals resources, take appropriate action to address the acts,
policies, or practices of trade partners with respect to critical
minerals, and lead the coordination of the Office's critical minerals
policy in consultation with the following individuals:
``(A) The Secretary of State or his designee.
``(B) The Secretary of Energy or his designee.
``(C) The Secretary of the Interior or his designee.
``(D) Any other individual the United States Trade
Representative determines appropriate.''.
(3) By adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(i) Annual Report by Chief Critical Minerals Negotiator.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than September 30, 2026, and
annually thereafter, the Chief Critical Minerals Negotiator
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees, and
concurrently publish on a publicly available website of the
United States Trade Representative, a report that--
``(A) describes in detail the results of a review
with respect to the acts, policies, and practices
relating to the trade in critical minerals in the
preceding fiscal year of countries determined by such
negotiator to--
``(i) have a significant trade relationship
with the United States; or
``(ii) pose a risk to the supply chains of
the United States; and
``(B) determines whether each such act, policy, or
practice reviewed under subparagraph (A)--
``(i) creates a supply chain vulnerability
which would be detrimental to the United States
defense, energy, and critical infrastructure
sectors; or
``(ii) violates, is inconsistent with, or
otherwise denies the United States of a benefit
under a bilateral or multilateral trade
agreement with such identified country; and
``(C) provides an update for each plan previously
submitted under paragraph (2).
``(2) Response to adverse actions.--Not later than 30 days
after the submission of the report under paragraph (1), the
Chief Critical Minerals Negotiator shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a plan to respond to the
findings of the report, including any action taken under title
III of this Act, to each act, policy, or practice identified in
such report that was determined under paragraph (1)(B) to
violate, be inconsistent with, or otherwise deny to the United
States a benefit under a bilateral or multilateral trade
agreement with such identified country or create a supply chain
vulnerability which would be detrimental to the United States
defense, energy, and critical infrastructure sectors.
``(3) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In
this subsection, the term `appropriate congressional
committees' means Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.''.
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