“A risk Britain can no longer afford to ignore” - the industries of the future depend on raw materials we do not fully control and supply chains we do not fully see
The Business and Trade sub-Committee opens oral evidence in a new inquiry in its work on UK national economic security, looking at the role of the critical minerals essential to developing advanced technologies from AI to military defence to renewable energy.
Meeting details
Supply chains involving critical minerals can be vast and complex, so that a large defence company might have 6,000 or 7,000 contractors creating components composed of “sub-assemblies made into assemblies [with] interchanges across oceans multiple times". The head company may then only have direct contact with a small number of these contractors. This creates incredible complexity for governments trying to understand the scale of national demand and need, and where the risks and chokepoints are.
Across three panels the sub-Committee will seek to understand the UK’s competencies and dependencies in sourcing and developing these critical resources, and what risks and opportunities the current position holds.
- What is the effect of critical mineral supply chains on the resilience of UK industry?
- With the supply of critical minerals already being weaponised as a tool of economic coercion, how can the growing need for these raw materials be balanced with economic security considerations?
- How will emerging technologies impact UK industry’s raw material needs and the current resilience of UK supply chains?
- What are the threats to those supply chains – including the role of China – and what would be the impact to the UK of disruption?
- What can the UK learn from other states’ response to the use of export controls?
Rt Hon Liam Byrne, Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, said: “From AI to defence to clean energy, the industries of the future depend on materials we do not fully control and supply chains we do not fully see. That is a risk Britain can no longer afford to ignore.
“Today, critical minerals are not just commodities; they are instruments of power. When supply can be squeezed, delayed or weaponised, the consequence is simple: British industry is exposed, and our economic security is weakened.
“Our inquiry will ask hard questions about where we are vulnerable, where we must act, and how we build supply chains that are stronger, more transparent, and more secure - so the technologies of the future are built on foundations we can trust.”