Yesterday, President Trump announced the completion of the section 232 trade investigation into critical minerals and ordered U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to "enter into negotiations with trading partners to adjust the imports of (critical minerals) so that they will not threaten to impair the national security of the United States."

The negotiations, the administration added, should promote the use of price floors, with the White House noting the need to create diverse and more resilient supply chains to counterbalance the influence of non-market practices by foreign actors.

And turning to Congress, Axios reports a bipartisan group of lawmakers is introducing new legislation today to establish a $2.5 billion "Strategic Resilience Reserve" (SRR) for critical minerals.

The SECURE Minerals Act would create a hybrid between the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the Federal Reserve.

The proposed Reserve would be overseen by a seven-member board, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. And like the strategic petroleum reserve, it would establish storage facilities to warehouse supplies of key materials.

And the Financial Times reports more than 100 new coal power projects are set to start supplying electricity worldwide in 2026. The 104 projects in total opening this year are among 439 under construction. China remains the story in the development of new coal capacity, accounting for 212 gigawatts of the 256 gigawatts of total new capacity under construction.