Opinion Leaders across political spectrum agree more American mineral supplies needed to support medical, defense and energy technologies and prevent China from destroying American jobs

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A new poll commissioned after the 2024 election found that an overwhelming majority of Opinion Leaders across the political spectrum support the federal government making the development of critical, domestic mineral projects a priority over the next four years.

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The poll shows that President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress will have broad bipartisan support - including a wide majority of Democrats - for doing more to bolster U.S. mining and mineral production to support critical industries like health care, semiconductors and electronics manufacturing, and defense and military equipment.  

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The results also find overwhelming concern that China will undercut American manufacturing jobs if the government does not act to support mining in the U.S.

Lot Sixteen partnered with Candid Counsel to conduct an online survey among 962 U.S. Opinion Leaders, defined as employed U.S. adults age 25+ with a Bachelor’s degree or higher, an income of $75,000 or more, who are registered voters, and actively engaged in civic activities. The survey was fielded between November 7-12, 2024, and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

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Key poll findings:

• 83% of Opinion Leaders, including 71% of Democrats and 95% of Republicans, say it should be a top or important priority for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration to expand domestic mining to tap into mineral resources.  
• Majorities say it is very important to source minerals domestically for their use in health care, medicine, and medical devices (71%), semiconductors and electronics (69%), and defense and military equipment and technology (67%).
• 60% feel concerned about how reliant the U.S. is on strategic minerals imports after learning it relies on foreign countries for between half and all its supply of key minerals.
• 81% agree that China will destroy American manufacturing jobs and investments if the federal government fails to ramp up domestic mineral production.
• 66% say it should be a top or important priority for the incoming Trump administration to reverse Biden administration mining moratoriums, including nearly half (45%) of Democrats and nearly all (92%) of Republicans.

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Additional findings and analysis of the poll can be found here and the topline can be found here.

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Statement attributed to Colin Hayes, founding partner at Lot Sixteen:

“It’s not just clean energy supply chains driving interest in critical minerals – it’s economy wide, including healthcare, tech and defense technologies.

“Getting the minerals we need from inside the United States — in ways that are well-regulated, safe for the people working on site, and beneficial to the surrounding communities — is far better than outsourcing production to unstable regimes with little regard to the human or environmental costs of producing minerals the wrong way.”

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Statement attributed to John Cipriani, founding partner at Candid Counsel:

“Opinion Leaders were more likely to support Trump in 2024 than in 2020 and are looking for him to deliver on policy priorities including strengthening domestic minerals supply chains. Most believe that if the incoming administration does not ramp up domestic mineral production, China will reap the benefits and the U.S. will lose out on a key opportunity to create jobs while supporting our medical, defense, and energy technology industries, among others.”