With President Donald Trump’s return to power in January, the focus has sharply shifted to boosting domestic supplies of critical minerals, such as copper, vital for energy transition technologies. However, this renewed emphasis on domestic mineral extraction has raised concerns about the future of the battery production value chain development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in December 2022.
The new strategy centers on leveraging executive powers to fast-track domestic mining and processing of raw materials, potentially sidelining international initiatives, including the DRC’s battery production efforts. This shift in priorities has led to the suspension of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), originally earmarked for global battery value chains. The US government has decided to reassess the allocation of these funds, in line with its evolving policy stance.
The MoU, signed in December 2022, had initially sought to foster US support for the DRC’s electric vehicle battery development, aiming to promote business development and technical assistance while encouraging greater involvement of the US private sector in these projects. However, with the new domestic-focused strategy, the future of this collaboration remains uncertain.
