Can This American Company Help Claw Back the Critical-Minerals Industry from China?

For decades, the U.S. has relied primarily on China for the graphite required to build lithium-ion batteries, military weapons, electric vehicles, and other important products. Now, an all-American graphite company is hoping to fill the gap.

Graphite One is a U.S.-based company that's managed to keep its entire supply chain within American shores: The graphite will be mined in Alaska and processed in Ohio. By insisting on domestic self-reliance, Graphite One is helping to address a key national security vulnerability, explained Dan McGroarty, a national-security policy expert who sits on Graphite One’s independent advisory board.

“Not only is it a commercial and technological detriment to not have U.S. sourced graphite, but from a national security and defense point of view, it is an absolute strategic vulnerability,” he said.

Graphite and other critical minerals are considered “dual-use” materials because of their applicability in commercial products and defense technologies. Already an essential component in the economy, graphite will only increase in importance as data farms proliferate to support the AI boom.

Anthony Huston, Graphite One’s CEO, started the company in 2012 after being inspired by what Elon Musk was building at Tesla. Huston considers it essential for the U.S. to have the technological know-how to compete with China and establish a robust domestic critical-minerals supply chain.

Graphite One gained approval from the Trump administration to expedite its permitting as part of the Fast-41 program launched to help bolster critical-mineral production. Huston estimates the Fast-41 approval will enable Graphite One to complete its permitting 18 months ahead of schedule.

“Looking from the federal regulation side, you can do things at the utmost, highest ability and compete at the same time. The way to do that is to cut down on the bureaucracy, and that’s where Fast-41 comes in,” Huston said. He praised Trump’s permitting council executive director Emily Domenech for being a “workhorse” focused on speeding up production.

On the state level, Huston praised the contributions made by Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy (R) and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) in supporting Graphite One and establishing healthy business climates.

Besides the political backing from Dunleavy, Graphite One has investments from three different Native American-owned corporations, each worth millions of dollars. Graphite One acquired its Alaska facility in 2011 from a family that had not put the property to use. Huston launched the company in early 2012 following the deal he made for the facility.

Across the entire supply chain, Huston estimates he will create close to 1,000 American jobs.

Huston and McGroarty believe in the free market — but they both acknowledge a role for the federal government in supporting industries that are vital to national security. But Huston believes there should be no tariffs on graphite because the industry is not commercialized in North America and has a ways to go before it catches up with China.

“There should be low, low tariffs, if not no tariffs on things like graphite,” Huston said. “To go and tariff something, it just doesn’t help building the supply chains. Once the United States is up and running and has commercialization, then it’s an appropriate time to put tariffs on,” he added.

McGroarty argues that China’s pricing power and market dominance in graphite and other critical minerals distinguishes the sector from regular market environments.

“This is asymmetric warfare. This is a junior mining company pre-revenue working to develop something with enormous commercial potential,” he said. “That’s also serving a national-interest imperative. It’s Graphite One and dozens of junior mining companies like that up against China and state-owned enterprises. It’s asymmetrical in a radical sense.”

Dunleavy, an enthusiastic cheerleader for his state, strongly supports Graphite One and the Trump administration’s work in speeding up permitting. He sees it as part of Alaska’s historical destiny to provide the U.S. with critical minerals, rare earth materials, and other resources vital to U.S. national security.

“We’ve been doing stuff with Graphite One on winter travel permits, hard-rock exploration and reclamation permits. Our updated land use approvals as well. We’re doing everything we possibly can,” Dunleavy told NR.

“We think it’s critical, just not for the economy of Alaska. But we are Americans, and many of us have been saying this for years, that offshoring these critical supply chains and strategic metals and minerals is kind of crazy,” he added.

“You don’t want to be held hostage by your adversaries. So we’re excited to help the federal government as much as possible. We’re excited to help ourselves and help this country.”

American policymakers have begun taking action in recent months to combat China’s dominance over critical-mineral processing and supply chains. Last week, the Trump administration announced the creation of a $12 billion critical-mineral reserve to help bolster American manufacturers and provide security to American companies in case of a global market disruption.

The State Department convened a critical-mineral meeting Wednesday with numerous Trump administration officials and representatives from dozens of countries. At the event, the U.S. signed several new bilateral critical-mineral frameworks and memoranda of understanding to collaborate on pricing, financing, supply chains, development, and the creation of fair markets.