In today\u2019s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to USA Rare Earth CEO Barbara Humpton.<\/p>\n
The big story: Trump calls for the execution of six Democrats.<\/p>\n
The markets: Down, down, and down.<\/p>\n
Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.<\/p>\n
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.<\/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<\/p>\n Washington has not yet bought a stake in USA Rare Earth (market cap: $1.62 billion), but Humpton said she has 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<\/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