Rebuilding America's Steel Independence

America's next manufacturing boom will depend on securing one forgotten material: high-grade iron ore.

President Donald Trump has made it clear: America must never again depend on China for the materials that build our future.

His "America First" agenda to restore U.S. industrial independence — by unlocking domestic resources, reshoring manufacturing, and rebuilding the defense base — is already reshaping the economy. But one crucial material has slipped through the cracks.

That material is high-grade iron ore — the essential ingredient in high-performance steel, the metal that built America's railways, factories, and warships, and still forms the backbone of our national defense. Without it, we cannot build the aircraft carriers, tanks, bridges, and energy infrastructure that keep America strong and secure.

Yet incredibly, high-grade iron ore is missing from the U.S. Geological Survey's draft 2025 Critical Minerals List — a mistake that leaves the United States dangerously exposed to foreign dependence.

China's Grip on Steel

China now consumes roughly 75% of the world's seaborne iron ore and produces more than half of global steel. That dominance gives Beijing a powerful lever over world markets.

Even in peacetime, Chinese state-backed steelmakers use their scale to undercut U.S. producers, discourage investment, and manipulate global pricing.

This is not an abstract concern. It is a strategic vulnerability.

Every shipyard, tank plant, and defense contractor in America relies on high-quality steel that cannot be made from low-grade ore or recycled scrap, which together currently account for more than 95% of all U.S. steel production.

Yet from the hulls of aircraft carriers to the frames of F-35s and missile systems, the entire U.S. defense industrial base depends on reliable access to high-grade ore. If conflict or crisis disrupted that supply, America's ability to arm and defend itself could be compromised in weeks.

Allies Are Acting; America Must, Too

Other nations have already recognized this danger.

Canada has added high-grade iron ore to its critical minerals list, while the European Union is investing heavily to secure premium ore supplies for its steel industry. Even China is racing to lock up deposits in Africa and South America to guarantee its own future dominance.

The United States cannot afford to fall behind. Allowing China to control both the inputs and the pricing of the world's most essential industrial material puts our manufacturing and national security at unacceptable risk.

A Clear Path Forward

Adding high-grade iron ore to the U.S. Critical Minerals List would be a decisive step toward rebuilding American steel independence.

This designation would accelerate permitting for new mining and processing projects, attract private investment in U.S.-based supply chains, support construction of next-generation steel plants in key defense and manufacturing hubs — Texas, Indiana, Ohio, and Louisiana —and create thousands of high-skilled American jobs while reinforcing critical infrastructure.

These new facilities would not only reduce dependence on China-linked supply chains but also spark a revival of the communities that built America's industrial might.

New Technologies, New Urgency

Since 2023, innovations in steelmaking have made high-grade iron ore even more important. Advanced processes now require ultrapure ore to produce the high-strength, low-emission steels used in modern warships, aircraft, armored vehicles, and energy systems.

These steels cannot be produced from low-quality or recycled materials. Without a secure domestic source of high-grade ore, the U.S. risks being permanently locked out of the next generation of advanced manufacturing and defense production.

The Bedrock of America's Strength

President Trump has long understood that economic strength is national security. His efforts to rebuild America's industrial base — from rare earths to semiconductor fabrication plants — are already laying the foundation for a new era of self-reliance.

The next step in that vision is clear: formally recognize high-grade iron ore as a critical mineral and unleash the full power of American innovation to secure it. Doing so would strengthen our defenses, safeguard our economy, and put American steelworkers and engineers back at the center of national renewal.

The lesson from the rare earths crisis is simple: When America depends on foreign supply chains, America becomes vulnerable.

High-grade iron ore is not just another raw material. It is the bedrock of our strength, the foundation of the steel that built and still defends the nation.

Rebuilding America's steel independence is how we keep our promise of prosperity, security, and freedom. It's time to make America's steel great again — and launch Trump's next industrial revolution from the ground up.

Melinda Moore is vice president of Innovation and Commercial Development at Ivanhoe Atlantic, a U.S. company developing the ultra-high-grade Kon Kweni iron ore project in Guinea.