CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon’s office said on Thursday, Oct. 1 that Gordon supports President Donald Trump’s decision to issue an executive order which aims to protect domestic mining in the United States.
“Yesterday, September 30, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order and declared a National Emergency to expand the domestic mining industry, support mining jobs, alleviate unnecessary permitting delays, and reduce our Nation’s dependence on China for critical minerals,” Gordon’s office said.
Gordon said that mining has been a key industry since Wyoming was a territory.
“As the world demand for minerals, particularly those critical to national security, has increased, our ability to mine and process those minerals has been hampered by underpriced competition from foreign countries and Washington, DC’s inaction to promote the domestic production of these minerals,” Gordon said in the release. “President Trump’s Executive Order will reverse that trend.”
“Wyoming is home to many essential minerals and elements, including rare earth elements, helium, uranium, vanadium, titanium, manganese, zirconium, hafnium, tin, tungsten, chromium, graphite, platinum group elements, and many others. These critical minerals can be found in rocks across the state. Additionally, some of these elements are being investigated in association with Wyoming’s vast coal deposits. Wyoming looks forward to working with the Federal Government to fully implement the intent and content of the President’s Executive Order.”
The national emergency declaration orders various departments to “investigate our nation’s undue reliance on critical minerals, in processed or unprocessed form, from foreign adversaries.”
It requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit a report to the president within 60 days summarizing conclusions of the investigation and recommending executive actions.
Executive action “may include the imposition of tariffs or quotas, other import restrictions against China and other non-market foreign adversaries whose economic practices threaten to undermine the health, growth, and resiliency of the United States, or other appropriate action, consistent with applicable law,” the order states.
Further details of what the order entails are described in the full order which can be found online.
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This article originally appeared on Oil City News. Used with permission.
