U.S. looks to Canada for minerals U.S. looks to Canada for minerals to build EVs Local supply chain preferable due to costs and dangers of battery transportation by Ernest Scheyder and Jeff Lewis | 3 hours ago A nickel mine in Australia. BHP expects nickel and copper demand to surge over increasing demand for electric vehicles. Ron D'Raine/Bloomberg files The U.S. government is working to help American miners and battery makers expand into Canada, part of a strategy to boost regional production of minerals used to make electric vehicles and counter Chinese competitors. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce held a closed-door virtual meeting with miners and battery manufacturers to discuss ways to boost Canadian production of EV materials, according to documents seen by Reuters. A source who attended the meeting said there was no indication that the Commerce Department would offer financial incentives for new mines or other supply chain components in Canada. RELATED EV battery demand sees Australian mining firm make moves to Canada But department officials did stress the need to act now to build a U.S.-Canada EV supply chain, much like Europe has been doing and Asia has already done, according to a second source who attended the meeting. The move comes as demand for electrified transportation is set to surge over the next decade. Lithium-ion batteries are dangerous to transport over long distances, so automakers prefer to have them built near assembly plants. That should aid efforts by Ontario and Quebec to develop their own battery cell plants with both provinces close to U.S. automakers in Michigan and Ohio, industry executives said. The border between Canada and the U.S. is inconsequential with respect to EVs and EV minerals, said Arne Frandsen, CEO of mining investment group Pallinghurst, which is the largest shareholder in Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc, which is building a graphite mine and an anode plant in Quebec. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ To be sure, the United States is also trying to boost domestic production of EV metals, which the Biden administration has said is critical. But Washington is increasingly viewing Canada as a kind of 51st State for mineral supply purposes and plans to deepen financial and logistical partnerships with the countrys mining sector over time, according to a U.S. government source. Adding to the appeal of Canada, some of the countrys mines bill themselves as environmentally friendly and promise to use hydroelectric power to reduce their carbon emissions. The United States knows that we are the most-secure and most-resilient source of metal imports for them, Canadian Natural Resources Minister Seamus ORegan told Reuters. You cant just rely on projects in the U.S. for supply, said Pini Althaus, USA Rare Earths CEO. You have to collaborate with Canada