{"id":47154,"date":"2025-11-21T11:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T11:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/47154\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T11:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T11:01:07","slug":"usa-rare-earth-ceo-barbara-humpton-describes-manhattan-project-to-wean-u-s-from-dependence-on-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/47154\/","title":{"rendered":"USA Rare Earth CEO Barbara Humpton describes \u2018Manhattan Project\u2019 to wean U.S. from dependence on China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Ronald Reagan once joked<\/a> that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are \u2018I\u2019m from the government and I\u2019m here to help.\u2019<\/p>\n

There may be an exception to that saying: helping U.S. companies compete in rare earths, a realm where China now dominates mining, refining, and manufacturing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That commitment certainly matters to Barbara Humpton, who last month left the top job at Siemens<\/a> USA to become CEO of USA Rare Earth. Founded in Oklahoma in 2019, the company\u2019s mission is to develop a domestic supply chain for magnets made with rare-earth elements, which are critical in everything from electric vehicles and computers to renewable energy and advanced manufacturing. \u201cI\u2019m delighted that I\u2019ve arrived to find that the Trump administration is laser-focused on this,\u201d she told me. \u201cIn the case of semiconductors, the U.S. holds some really important cards, but in rare earths, it\u2019s rather the opposite, right?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Washington has not yet bought a stake in USA Rare Earth (market cap $1.62 billion), but Humpton said she\u2019s been in close communication with the Administration. As MP Materials CEO James Litinsky, whose mining company is now one of several partly owned by the U.S. government, recently told<\/a> my colleague Jordan Blum:\u00a0 \u201cThis is really a Manhattan Project-style effort with all-out intensity.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s surprised Humpton most during her first weeks on the job is that, as an industry, \u201cwe have not yet begun to operate as a healthy market outside of China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her plan: Go to the most fragile parts of the supply chain, invest, and scale to fix any bottlenecks in supply and production. As a first step, the company recently announced the acquisition of Less Common Metals, a U.K.-based company that Humpton describes as \u201cthe only scaled metal and alloy maker outside of China, so we can dramatically scale that weakest link in the supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Reagan\u2019s warning: \u201cI think government engagement matters right now,\u201d said Humpton. \u201cOnce the flywheel gets going and we have robust capabilities outside of China, I believe the market will sustain itself, but we have to be on a sharp lookout for dumping.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then again, as we\u2019ve seen with renewables, what one President giveth, another can taketh away. But, as she argues, \u201cthis is probably the most bipartisan issue in our government right now, to make sure that we are not dependent on China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Top news<\/p>\n

Trump calls for the execution of six Democratic members of Congress<\/p>\n

The Democratic lawmakers, concerned over Trump\u2019s use of troops against Americans<\/a> on U.S. soil, had made a video urging members of the military to refuse illegal orders. Trump responded by demanding their arrest, trial, and the death penalty. \u201cSEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!\u201d he said on social media<\/a>. The White House said it had not issued any illegal orders, and the Democrats did not cite any examples of such orders.<\/p>\n

Nevada congresswoman cites Fortune reporting in letter calling for accountability from Elon Musk\u2019s Boring Company<\/p>\n

Congresswoman Dina Titus (D\u2014NV) sent a letter Wednesday to Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo demanding transparency and accountability over rescinded safety citations and environmental violations involving the Boring Company, Elon Musk\u2019s tunneling operation, Fortune exclusively reported<\/a>. Titus has called for a public hearing and federal investigation into the company\u2019s Vegas Loop project and the safety concerns that Fortune has consistently reported on over the past two years. Gov. Lombardo\u2019s press secretary did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Zelensky says he is ready to talk about U.S. peace plan<\/p>\n

The president of Ukraine said he is ready to discuss<\/a> \u201ctheir vision\u201d for peace, referring to Washington\u2019s 28-point peace plan<\/a> to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Although the plan contains some military security guarantees<\/a> from NATO and the U.S., it is unlikely to be acceptable to Zelensky because it requires Ukraine to cede territory to Russia and reduce the size of its military, leaving it vulnerable to further incursion from Moscow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rise in \u2018Bad PIKs\u2019 show \u2018cracks\u2019 in private credit market<\/p>\n

The number of private credit deals that are changed after the initial deal is signed to include more risky terms for the lender is on the rise, according to Brian Garfield<\/a>, Lincoln International\u2019s managing director and head of U.S. portfolio valuations. 10.6% of all deals now feature a \u201cpayment-in-kind\u201d (PIK), and of those a majority, 57.2%, are \u201cbad PIKs,\u201d where the original deal was changed prior to maturity.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s tariff rollback takes a chunk out of projected deficit reductions<\/p>\n

New budget projections from the Congressional Budget Office indicate<\/a> that Trump\u2019s recent rollbacks of his tariffs have negated nearly $800 billion in expected reductions from U.S. deficits. In August, the agency projected that the tariff policy at that point could reduce the deficit by $3.3 trillion through 2035.<\/p>\n

DOJ announces arrest of semiconductor smugglers<\/p>\n

The Department of Justice announced on Thursday the arrest<\/a> of four men alleged to have run a smuggling operation moving Nvidia chips from Alabama through Malaysia and Thailand into China. The DOJ\u2019s indictment accuses the Chinese military of seeking these chips for \u201cweapons design and testing, including for weapons of mass destruction as well as in connection with the PRC\u2019s development and deployment of advanced AI surveillance tools.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jefferies\u2019 Chris Wood warns of \u2018AI capex arms race\u2019<\/p>\n

Wood has a track record of spotting speculative bubbles. He called the dotcom boom, Japan\u2019s credit bubble and the U.S. housing bubble before many of his contemporaries. So when he warned of an \u201cAI capex arms race\u201d at the Fortune Innovation Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday, the audience paid attention<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clifford Chance to cut 10% of London employees, citing AI<\/p>\n

The international law firm told its staff that the job losses were happening sue to a greater use of AI and \u201cthe creation of new roles, changes to the scope of roles, revised team structures and in some cases a reduction in roles,\u201d the FT reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The markets<\/p>\n

S&P 500 futures were flat this morning. The last session closed down 1.56%. STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.8% in early trading. The U.K.\u2019s FTSE 100 was down 0.49% in early trading. Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 was down 2.4%. China\u2019s CSI 300 was down 2.44%. The South Korea KOSPI was down 3.79%. India\u2019s NIFTY 50 is down 0.52%. Bitcoin was down at $82K.<\/p>\n

Around the watercooler<\/p>\n

Unemployment could hit 25% among recent grads and trigger \u2018unprecedented\u2019 social disruption thanks to AI, U.S. senator warns<\/a> by Preston Fore<\/p>\n

Crypto\u2019s Q4 wipeout is among worst in memory\u2013but better times may be ahead, says analyst<\/a> by Carlos Garcia<\/p>\n

Elon Musk says that in 10 to 20 years, work will be optional and money will be irrelevant thanks to AI and robotics<\/a> by Sasha Rogelberg<\/p>\n

Gen Z men are flocking to quarter-zip pullovers\u2014they\u2019re trying to fake it until they make it in a job market stacked against them<\/a> by Nick Lichtenberg<\/p>\n

CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Claire Zillman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning. Ronald Reagan once joked that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are \u2018I\u2019m…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[26731,75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-47154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-ceo-daily","9":"tag-manhattan","10":"tag-manhattan-headlines","11":"tag-manhattan-news","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}