Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
House China hawks called on Congress to boost overseas investment in resource projects elsewhere and fund U.S. purchases of battery minerals in those countries.
Why it matters: Congress' next words relative to climate action are increasingly likely to arrive via anti-China industrial policy legislation.
Driving the news: The House Select Committee on China released its policy recommendations, which are poised to become a roadmap for future congressional action against the Asian economic titan.
- Energy is a big-ticket item for the select panel. The recommendations focus on perceived security vulnerabilities in the EV sector and mineral supply chains, as well as the market for small nuclear reactors.
- The panel also wants wholesale changes to U.S.-China trade relations.
Zoom in: The panel calls for fixing a wonky but deeply serious scoring issue we've told you about that's holding up outbound investments to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative.
- It recommends passing legislation to direct the International Development Finance Corp. to prioritize investments in minerals and energy projects and to reduce other nations' reliance on China.
There's a lot on mining, with an emphasis on creating a "resilient resource reserve" that would purchase cobalt, manganese, graphite and rare earths on the global market.
- The purpose? Combating price volatility created by China's current dominance in those commodities.
- It also says Congress should take additional steps to boost domestic battery recycling and proposes passing Rep. Eric Swalwell's bill to create a rare earth magnet production tax credit.
On nuclear, the panel wants a national strategy "to localize to scale, carbon-free electricity" powered by small modular nuclear reactors.
- There's a recommendation to "promote the expedited review" of SMRs at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a quiet nod to permitting legislation.
- But remember, Congress is punting on the ADVANCE Act for now.
What they're (not) saying: The words "climate" and "oil" are nowhere in the recommendations.
